GLASSBORO, N.J. - The Haverford College men's soccer team (2-0-1) remained undefeated with a thrilling come-from-behind victory over host Rowan (1-2-1) on Wednesday night at the Rowan Lacrosse and Soccer Complex. The Fords stunned the Profs with an exhilarating sequence of events in the final 20 minutes of action, ending a soggy night in the Garden State with a huge non-conference win over the Profs, a team receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll release.
The scoring opened after the intermission, as both teams were level in a first half that featured seven shots. Rowan controlled possession in that frame, but could not break through. Gabe Knopf and Andrew Fritz fired on target in the first 45 for the Fords. Just 23 seconds into the second half, a penalty shot was called as Chad Yates buried the attempt deftly to give Rowan the goal of the contest, forcing the Fords to chase the game down the stretch.
After that goal, Haverford appeared to turn up the tempo, on the doorstep of scoring with a renewed sense of focus on the attack. Paul-Andre Coulibaly made a run and took a one-touch pass from Fritz in the 70th minute to level the score at 1-1 with his second of the season. The Fords used some crisp passing to get the ball into the attacking third and then trusted their senior forward to slot one into the back of the net to tie things up.
The contest later turned on one particular sequence in the waning moments. After Haverford was called for yet another foul in the box, Dylan Ioffreda was the hero as he turned away Yates' second penalty kick attempt in the 74th minute, lunging to his right and then making an immediate lunge back and to his left to stop a second shot off the redirection from Ryan Barnes, keeping the contest knotted at 1-1.
With all the momentum of the contest suddenly on their side following Ioffreda's heroic escape, Haverford then broke the tie less than a minute later, sprinting down the field on the counter-attack as Brian Lorenz set things up well with a great pass down field to Tommy Hull. Hull one-touched a pass through traffic to Andrew Stephens. Stephens found Fritz making a perfectly-placed cut in front of goal. Fritz did not have the strongest of angles, but the first year slotted an expertly-placed shot into the back of the net, doing the work to get free by weaving his way past both the final Profs' defender and a crashing goalkeeper to give Haverford the lead at 2-1.
The advantage held at that one-goal margin for the remainder of the contest as the Fords allowed just two more shots in the final minutes to seal things. Gil Ferreira had a decent look on frame in the 88th minute, but his header missed the mark high, and Yates was then unable to convert in the 89th minute, missing wide. Ioffreda made four total saves. Fritz and Coulibaly each had two shots each to pace Haverford.
This was Haverford's fourth win over Rowan in program history, and first since the 2014 season. The Fords were making their first trip to Glassboro since the 2018 season and just the third since 2012.
The Fords are next in action on Saturday at the Jimmy Mills Classic on Saturday. Kickoff at home against Lycoming is slated for 2:30 p.m. and the four-game set will continue into Sunday, with the Fords taking on Skidmore at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday to wrap up tournament action on campus.