ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Haverford College men's soccer team (2-6-4, 0-3-1) played Muhlenberg (3-4-4, 1-1-3) to a scoreless draw in rainy, wet conditions at Varsity Field in Allentown. Haverford was awarded a penalty kick in the 69th minute, but a strong shot from Paul-Andre Coulibaly was saved by the Muhlenberg keeper Ben Mulford to keep the game scoreless.
Haverford held a slight edge in shots in the contest, 17-16, as both sides had plenty of offensive chances throughout the run of play. Strong goalkeeping was eventually the name of the game as the Mules looked to build possession after possession in the latter stages of the contest but were consistently denied by Dylan Ioffreda, who made six saves, with all of those stoppages coming in the second half.
The Fords held a 7-3 advantage in shots in the first period, earning five corners as the Fords constantly peppered the Muhlenberg goal. Luca Mello added the first shot of the contest in the sixth minute, and Haverford seemed on the doorstep from that point, with Coulibaly and Caleb Miller each having strong looks in the first 35 minutes. A late offensive flurry from the visitors saw Ben Ward and Meinhardt Rentrup put solid looks in the air, while the backline denied salvos from Kevin Adams and Brian Osborne before half.
In the second, Gabe Knopf had a 52nd-minute shot on goal, and Andrew Fritz then fired high in the 55th minute. Ioffreda withstood some dangerous chances from the Mules with aplomb, and Haverford looked in strong position with the penalty awarded with just over 20 minutes to play. Mulford lunged to deny Coulibaly, giving Muhlenberg some late momentum after it seemed like Haverford was chasing that opening strike for several minutes.
Muhlenberg did grab several more shots from that point, with Ioffreda forced into action in the 84th minute, and Brian Lorenz fired two shots, including one on target, as Haverford earned several corners with the offensive pressure building in the final 10 minutes. Ultimately, Muhlenberg did enough to fend off the Haverford offense, with the penalty save proving to be the key moment in the second frame.
The Fords will return to action on Wednesday with a brief break from Centennial Conference play, heading to Rutgers-Camden for a midweek matchup with the Scarlet Raptors. The action is slated to begin at 7 p.m. before conference play continues at Ursinus on Saturday.