HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College Fords finally had a bit of good fortune go their way Saturday afternoon, and it resulted in their first win of the season for the men's soccer team as they knocked off William Paterson, 2-1, in the first match of the Jimmy Mills Classic.
Saturday's match against William Paterson was played at Swan Field because of the forecast for inclement weather in the Delaware Valley this weekend. Haverford will be back in action Sunday at 12 p.m. when it hosts Rowan in a match that will also be played at Swan Field instead of Walton Field.
The Fords – now 1-0-2 on the season – got on the scoreboard first against the Pioneers with some good fortune. With the Fords on the attack, the ball was sent into the box and headed past William Paterson goalkeeper Thomas Hatch. However, one of Hatch's teammates headed it past the WP goalkeeper, putting Haverford ahead 1-0 at the 8:18 mark of the first half with an own goal.
That's where the match stood at halftime and through most of the second half until the Pioneers got the match-tying goal in the 72nd minute (71:18) as David Moreira took a perfect centering pass from Daniel Youn and put the ball deftly past Haverford keeper Dylan Ioffreda, who faced only four shots on goal in the match, saving three.
The Fords, however, answered just a little more than three minutes later with the game-winner on a perfect corner kick by Cyrus Nasseri. With both teams in scramble mode, as the match wound down, the Fords found themselves with a golden opportunity to take the lead when their senior forward lined up for a corner kick to the left of the goal.
Nasseri's corner was expertly placed, and junior midfielder Joey Carol headed it past Hatch for the eventual match-winning goal at the 74:31 mark of the contest. The assist for Nasseri was Haverford's only corner kick of the second half.
William Paterson had more shots than Haverford (15-6) and more shots on goal (4-3), but the Fords had good fortune in the first half and a perfect corner kick in the second half. It all added to their first win of the season after two season-opening ties: a 3-3 tie vs. MIT last Friday (Sept. 1) and a 2-2 at Susquehanna on Tuesday (Sept. 5).
The victory was also the first at Haverford for first-year head coach Kevin Brenner, who joined the Haverford staff in March as the interim head coach before being named the permanent head coach in June.