HAVERFORD, Pa. - Freshman Brady Seitz tallied three unanswered second-half goals to help Haverford College men's soccer team secure its second consecutive Centennial Conference playoff berth with a 3-0 victory Wednesday afternoon over visiting Ursinus College.
After the two squads played to a scoreless tie in the opening frame, Seitz put the Fords (10-6, 6-2 CC) on the board in highlight-reel fashion in the 51st minute as his bicycle kick of a Dan Garfing header stunned Bears goalie Kieran Keyser.
Haverford continued to put the pressure on Ursinus with four shots on goal over the next 12 minutes. Another strong individual effort by Seitz provided a 2-0 cushion for the Fords when he boomed a rocket from 20 yards out at 62:34.
Outhustling Keyser to the ball, Seitz capped the scoring with his third goal of the afternoon in the 79th minute. Seitz chipped the ball over the Ursinus goalkeeper and deposited his fifth of the season into the open net to complete his collegiate-best effort.
The Bears (5-11, 1-7) mustered just four shots overall in the contest as the Fords' defense limited Ryan Butler, the second-leading scorer in the conference (1.93 points per game) to two of his squad's four shots on the day.
An energetic Haverford attack registered 19 shots in the second half to finish with 27. Seitz and Sam Yarosh were at the forefront of the effort with six shots apiece.
Andriy Mshanetskyy (10-5) had a quiet day in goal for Haverford as he did not need to make a save on the way to his fifth shutout of the season.
Keyser (5-10) tallied seven saves in the loss.
The victory enables the Fords to have a first-round bye in the conference tournament and reach double figures in wins in back-to-back seasons (11 wins in 2011) for the first time since the 1999 and 2000 campaigns.
One final regular season contest awaits as Haverford, currently in third place in the conference standings, heads to rival Swarthmore College Saturday night. The game against the first-place Garnet (7-0-1), ranked 11th nationally, begins at 7 p.m.