CARLISLE, Pa. – The No. 5 Haverford College men's soccer team kept its place all alone atop the Centennial Conference standings with a 2-1 victory on the road against Dickinson. The Fords (8-2-2, 5-0 CC) were tested as the Red Devils (5-6-1, 2-3 CC) scored first before Haverford rallied for the final two goals in the opening half.
Playing a rematch of last year's Centennial Conference Championship in which neither team scored a goal until Will Corkery's direct kick with 19 seconds left, Saturday's match saw just 2:52 of playing time pass before Dickinson got on the scoreboard.
Nevertheless, reigning Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week Nick Jannelli brought the Fords back to level with a goal just over 10 minutes later. Jannelli's goal was his sixth of the season and fifth of the Centennial Conference slate. As he has done before, Jannelli's goal came with him having to create his own space as he split the defense before finding the back of the net.
The quick offensive start continued in the 28th minute of play as Michael Carr beat the Red Devils defense for his second goal of the season. Carr, a sophomore, now has four goals in his career, all of which have come in Centennial Conference play. Both of his goals this season have been game-winning efforts. Carr's goal came on a long shot from well outside of the 18 that still found the upper 90 of goal.
Dickinson finished the game with a 16-10 advantage in shots. However, Jeremy Astesano filled in nicely during his first career start. Astesano stopped five of the six shots he faced on the evening. Four of Astesano's saves came in the second half. His final three denials all came in the last 20 minutes of game action as the Red Devils were pushing for an equalizer of their own. His counterpart, Jeremy Palcin, made three saves on the night.
Haverford has now won 14 straight regular season Centennial Conference contests to extend their previous program record set back between 1942 and 1946. The Fords are unbeaten in their last 16 Centennial Conference regular season meetings. That streak stands as the second longest in program history, just three results short of the 19 straight wins or ties the Fords had as a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference between 1952 and 1955.
Men's soccer will now have a full week to prepare for its next Centennial Conference match as the Fords travel to Muhlenberg next Saturday for another contest under the lights at 7 p.m. in Allentown.