CHESTERTOWN, Md.- The Haverford College men's soccer team (2-3-7, 0-2-3 CC) took a 1-0 defeat against Washington College (7-0-5, 4-0-1 CC) on Saturday, after a tightly contested clash between the two Centennial Conference foes at Kirby Stadium.
The Shoremen got off to a quick start in the contest, scoring in just the seventh minute. Washington College's Shepherd Koffie corralled the ball down the flank and took his defender one-on-one. He then rifled a shot upper 90 past Dylan Ioffreda to give the Shoremen a 1-0 lead.
The 19th minute saw Haverford's first crack at net from a shot by Thomas Vanni. The first-year midfielder got on the end of a swerving cross on the ground, and hit home a one-timer that was stopped by Shoremen goalkeeper Anthony Pinto.
Despite a bevy of corner kicks by Washington College, the Fords were able to head into the break down by just one. At half, Washington College held the advantage in corners 6-to-1 and shots 8-to-3.
Just seconds into the second half, Washington College had yet another dangerous chance. It was Koffie yet again, who jumped onto a twisting and turning through ball, who rocketed a shot just wide left of Ioffreda.
The game's first cards were issued almost simultaneously, as Shoremen midfielder Harrison Malone picked up a yellow card in the 53rd minute, while Haverford's Conrad Coyanda-Parkzes earned a yellow in the 54th minute.
Off the free kick from the challenge of Coyanda-Parkzes, the Shoremen thought they had goal number two. Dominic Miller sent in a free kick that had a straight path towards goal, it was headed by Chris Comber, but the troubling header was knocked away by Ioffreda, who turned away the challenging effort.
The rest of the second half remained quiet, until the 89th minute where the Fords sought a late equalizer. With 1:40 to go, Gabe Knopf slashed his way through the midfield and drew a foul just outside the box. The foul resulted in a yellow card for Washington College's Alex Coster.
Tomas Ascoli took the proceeding free kick, and hooked one to the upper left of the net, forcing Pinto to deflect the ball out of play. The Fords were unable to capitalize on the following corner kick, as the hard-fought battle ended in a 1-0 win for the home side.
The Shoremen ended the contest with a 16-to-4 shot advantage, and a big 8-to-3 corner kick advantage. Five yellow cards were issued in the match, with four of them being charged to Washington College.
Haverford will return to the pitch October 14, as the Fords host McDaniel at 3 p.m in the second game of a doubleheader with the women's team also taking on the Green Terror. The game will serve as the Mental Health Awareness game, as the Centennial Conference will be promoting mental health awareness at matchups throughout the week.