CAMDEN, N.J. – In an always competitive matchup, the Haverford College men's soccer team dropped a hard-fought 3-2 overtime contest at Rutgers-Camden on Wednesday night. The Fords (3-2-2) twice erased one-goal deficits before the Scarlet Raptors (8-2) scored just over five minutes into the overtime session. Haverford came into the highly-touted contest ranked No. 21 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Association poll while Rutgers-Camden was receiving votes in this week's D3Soccer.com Poll.
Andrew Peebles and Nick Jannelli both scored equalizers for the Fords on the evening. Jannelli's goal marked the 100th point of his career as he became the sixth player in program history to reach that milestone. Rich Billings '00 was the last player to accomplish that feat on his way to a school-record 147 career points. Jannelli now has 41 goals and 18 assists during his career. Haverford's senior captain ranks eighth in school history for goals and is now tied for 11th all-time in assists.
Playing a match that was tight throughout the contest, RUC finished with a slim 13-12 advantage in shots. However, it was the Fords that held an 8-6 advantage in shots on goal to go along with a 6-4 advantage in corner kick attempts.
The Scarlet Raptors scored first in both halves to take 1-0 and 2-1 leads before the Fords answered. RUC got its scoring started during the 33rd minute when overtime hero Darnell Brown knocked his shot off of the post and into the goal. However, Peebles answered just 7:46 later with the first goal of his career in unassisted fashion. With that goal, Peebles became the fifth different Ford to find the back of the net through the team's first seven matches this fall.
The hosts retook the lead during the 63rd minute of play when Diggs collected a pass from Joni Gjyleri and finished across the mouth of the goal. It took the Fords a little more time to find their answer to the second goal, but they would do so with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation time. Jannelli carried the position into the attacking third on the right side but was able to bury his shot from about 25 yards away to the far post and level the match at two.
In a match where inches seemingly made the difference, Jannelli nearly found the game-winner with five seconds left in regulation, but his shot bounced off the crossbar and out of harm's way. It was once again inches that made the difference in overtime as Darnell Brown got on the end of a header and was barely able to push it across the line for the game-winning tally. Reigning Division III Player of the Week Dylan Ioffreda made three saves for the Fords on the night while his counterpart, Kieran Burns, denied six Haverford chances.
Men's soccer will look to bounce back quickly as the Fords welcome No. 6 Franklin & Marshall to Walton Field this Saturday for a 1 p.m. start. Saturday's contest will be a rematch of last year's Centennial Conference Championship which went to the Fords in a 3-2 overtime thriller.