HAVERFORD, Pa. – Haverford College Men's Soccer (4-3-7, 2-2-3 CC) kept on rolling Wednesday, picking up its second conference win of the season by defeating Ursinus (8-5-1, 1-5-1 CC) 2-0, on a crisp fall afternoon on Walton Field.
Haverford kicked things off with a bang in just the fourth minute of the game with a very dangerous chance early. Off a free kick, senior captain Max Mouer headed a perfectly placed ball on frame. Ursinus keeper Zach Matik dove to his right, and parried the ball out of bounds, denying the Fords an early goal.
Three more corner kicks occurred in the next three minutes, but despite headers from Mouer and Andrew Fritz, as well as a shot blocked from Brian Lorenz, the Scarlet and Black still couldn't find the back of the net.
However, the 17th minute saw the first breakthrough of the game, as Haverford went up by one goal. After a punt from Dylan Ioffreda, Fritz headed a backward pass that was picked up by Gabe Knopf. Knopf then played a curling through ball to the feet of Aidan Lacy, who slotted a shot past Matik to give the Fords a 1-0 lead.
For the rest of the first half, Haverford remained on the attack with two more shots from Lorenz, and a shot by Andrew Peebles, but going into halftime, the score remained 1-0 in favor of the Fords.
At halftime, the Scarlet and Black held a substantial lead over the Bears in shots (14-2) and corner kicks (9-0) in a commanding first 45 minutes.
Just under ten minutes into the second half, the Fords struck again, extending the lead 2-0. Following a free kick from Mouer, the ball was headed straight up into the air and out of the box. Eventually, Lacy settled the ball at his feet and proceeded to swerve his way into the box. After finding a bit of space, the first-year attacker rifled a shot on frame that was blocked by a Ursinus defender. Thomas Vanni settled the rebound cleanly, and fired a right-footed shot into the back of the net to give the Scarlet and Black a 2-0 lead.
The Bears tried to answer right back under a minute later. Defender Joshua Coster sprinted towards the right corner of the box, made a swim move and lasered a shot just on the top of the box towards the net. Ioffreda dove to his left and pushed the shot away. However, the ball ricocheted off the post and back into the middle of the goal line. The senior goalkeeper was there, and was able to smother the ball, preventing a potential rebound opportunity for the Bears.
The rest of the half saw both teams trade chances, with the only real menacing chance coming from Tommy Mollis, a strike that was saved by Ioffreda in the 72nd minute.
The 2-0 scoreline ended up being the final score, as Haverford claimed the victory over Ursinus for the 14th consecutive season. Haverford is 71-11-5 all-time against the Bears.
Leading the way for the Fords was Lacy who ended the game with a goal, assist, and four shots, one shot less than the shot leader Tomas Ascoli, who finished the game with five shots. The Centennial Conference leader in saves and saves per game, Ioffreda, ended the game with six saves on the day.
The Scarlet and black, will look to continue their momentum Saturday, October 21, as they travel to Baltimore, Md. to take on the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays at Homewood Field. Kick-off is slated for 5 p.m as the race for Centennial Conference postseason positioning begins to heat up.