HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's soccer team (0-4) was edged in overtime by visiting Widener (2-3) in the final game of the 2021 Jimmy Mills Tournament on Sunday afternoon at Walton Field. Both defenses proved to be instrumental as the game went scoreless through regulation. Sean Fatiga broke through the Haverford back line in the 94th minute, scoring an unassisted tally to send the visitors to victory.
The Fords dominated possession in the first half, with nine shots to just three for the Pride. Haverford had strong offensive chances out of the gates as Meinhardt Rentrup nearly punched in a goal off a corner in the 12th minute and Paul-Andre Coulibaly had a strong look on frame in the 17th. The Fords kept the offensive pressure up with Brian Lorenz and Alex Millones entering as substitutions and creating great opportunities offensively in the latter moments of the period. The second half saw Haverford again on the doorstep of breaking through, with seven shots in the second 45 minutes of action. Coulibaly sent a salvo just high in the 52nd, and tested Widener keeper Ryan Van Pelt in the 62nd minute as the momentum stayed firmly with the Fords.
Haverford went down a man in the 72nd as Matt Heim was shown his second yellow card of the afternoon, and Widener began to form more cohesion offensively against the depleted Fords. The Pride responded with four shots, including two on target, in the final five minutes of regulation.
The overtime period started promising for the Fords, with Cyrus Nasseri getting a look on target for the first shot of the extra period, but a defensive lapse in the defending third moments later turned the ball over to Widener with Fatiga getting a one-on-one opportunity with Dylan Ioffreda. Fatiga found the back of the net for the golden goal victory for the Pride.
Ioffreda collected four saves while Van Pelt made six for the visitors. Coulibaly and Nasseri each had a game-best three shots while Coulibaly joined Fatiga as the only players with multiple shots on target on Saturday. The Fords will look for a bounce back performance as they head to Arcadia for a weekday clash on Wednesday, September 15. The contest is slated for a 4 p.m. start in Glenside. Haverford will then open up Centennial Conference play on Saturday, September 18 at Dickinson.