HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's soccer team (2-4-2) was defeated by Stockton, a team receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll, by a 4-2 final on Tuesday afternoon at Walton Field. The Fords held two first-half leads, but the Ospreys rallied to improve to 7-1-1 on the season with the road triumph.
As has been a common theme all season long, there was no wait for the scoring to open as the Fords tallied on the first shot of the contest for either team. Haverford earned a free kick after a Stockton foul, and Tomas Ascoli lined up to take the restart, sending a ball into the box for the waiting head of Max Mouer, as the Texan added his second goal of the season with a perfectly-timed header past the Stockton goalkeeper in the fourth minute. In the 15th minute, Stockton tied the score at 1-1 after earning the first corner of the afternoon for either side. Antonio Matos sent the ball into the box where a header from Owen Kitch evened things up and sent the Fords again searching for offensive rhythm.
In the 28th, Haverford took its second lead of the contest behind the foot of Alex Millones, as Liam O'Malley sent a cross into his teammate, who buried his third goal of the season to give the Fords back the early momentum. Some dangerous moments came in the 35th minute of action, with Mike McKeown putting a nice shot on frame before Juan Rivera was called into duty to clear the ball off the backline. The rebound found McKeown again, but Dylan Ioffreda made a strong save to preserve the lead.
Eventually, that dam broke as Stockton scored twice in the final five minutes of the half, with Uchechi Wokcha converting off a free kick to tie the score at 2-2. After a corner in the 42nd minute, Stockton took the lead heading into halftime as Mohammed Bangoura sent a strong pass to find McKeown in the box, who craftily slotted the one-timer into the goal for the lead.
Stockton dominated possession in the second half, building towards another goal that they found in the 74th minute as Ian Byrne sent a cross into Joseph Carbone for an insurance goal. Despite the 4-2 deficit, the Fords still had plenty of offensive chances, with Ben Ward getting a solid look on cage in the 70th and Paul-Andre Coulibaly having a late salvo blocked.
In total, Stockton held an 18-9 advantage in shots and a 7-2 mark in corner kicks. Ioffreda made five saves while Liam Brett picked up the win with two saves in his 90 minutes of action.
The Fords now march right back into conference play on Friday, taking on No. 6 Johns Hopkins in a 6 p.m. showdown in Baltimore. Haverford has just three regular season home games remaining after playing six of its first eight on campus, with the next chance to catch Haverford on Walton Field coming on September 28 against Washington College (4 p.m.).