Men's Soccer Starts Strong, Wins 4-0 in Home Opener vs. Cabrini

HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team got its 2019 campaign off to a solid start with a resounding 4-0 victory over visiting Cabrini on Friday evening. The Fords (1-0), a team ranked 20th in the D3Soccer.com preseason poll, scored three times in the second half to break the match open during their ninth straight victory at home dating back to last year.

Nick Jannelli picked up right where he left off a season ago as the senior captain scored two goals and assisted on another in the home opener while Noah Schwab and Kevin Kaufman also found the back of the net in the victory. The Fords controlled the tempo throughout the match and finished with a 22-4 advantage in shots. In goal, Dylan Ioffreda played the first half and made one save while Michael Iacono played the final 45 minutes to cap the team's defensive shutout.

The Fords created numerous chances throughout the afternoon and finally cracked the scoreboard in the 26th minute as Schwab headed home the corner kick insert from Jannelli to open the scoring. Schwab's tally was the third goal of his career and the first game-winning effort as he begins his sophomore campaign. Although Haverford held an 11-3 advantage in shots and 5-0 edge in corner kicks after 45 minutes, Cabrini found itself down just 1-0.

Nevertheless, the goals began to pour in for Haverford during the second half. Jannelli scored his first goal of the season just over eight minutes into that second half off of a beautiful cross from his running mate Peter Baroff. Just 13 minutes later, Jannelli took a corner kick and was able to find the back of the net in unassisted fashion with a curved shot into the box. With his two goals, Jannelli moved up two spots on Haverford's all-time goals list. His 36 career goals are tied for ninth all-time with Joey Kim '93. The senior now has 17 career assists and is tied with Rob Shaker '91 for 10th all-time with 89 career points.

Haverford showed a tremendous amount of depth in the season opener as a total of 25 players saw action. Even with that many subs, the Fords continued to put the offensive pressure on Cabrini's defensive line. Kaufman capped Haverford's scoring with a goal that came with just over 15 minutes remaining in regulation time. Kaufman's second career goal was set up by Anthony Walker's first career assist to make the game a 4-0 final.

Men's soccer will now have the rest of the opening weekend off from competition as the team begins preparations for the 2019 Jimmy Mills Classic next weekend. The Jimmy Mills Classic gets underway for the Fords next Saturday, September 7 with a 12 p.m. match against Centre. The following day, Haverford will battle Hampden-Sydney at 2:30 p.m.