COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's soccer team made their first appearance in the Centennial Conference tournament but fell 2-1 against Haverford College on Tuesday evening at Patterson Field.
Haverford tallied the game's opening chances in the first minute, as a pair of shots were deflected away by the Bears' defense and senior goalkeeper
Josiah Moore. The Fords nearly converted on an ensuing corner kick but were called offside to keep the game tied.
The Bears responded in the fourth minute as senior
Matthew McFadden corralled a loose ball inside the box, but his left-footed shot was saved by the Haverford defense. The Fords answered in the 14th minute when Charles Sharp scored on a counterattack opportunity, converting a one-on-one chance for his 14th goal of the season and giving Haverford a 1-0 lead.
The strongest Ursinus chance came in the 36th minute when first-year
Ryan O'Neill made a move around a Haverford defender, but his shot from 27 yards out sailed just over the crossbar. Moore and the Bears' defense denied a pair of shots on goal over the remainder of the half to keep the Bears' deficit at one heading into halftime.
In the second half, Ursinus got their offense going, generating a pair of shot opportunities by McFadden and sophomore
Noah Huber. The Bears' aggressiveness culminated in a goal in the 71st minute, as first-year
Ryan O'Neill headed the ball into the net. It was O'Neill's fourth goal of the season and tied the contest with 19 minutes remaining.
The Fords responded well after the Bears' goal, generating multiple shot opportunities. Eventually, they took advantage as Jonathan D'Amour knocked a shot into the left corner of the goal to give Haverford a 2-1 lead with eight minutes remaining.
Ursinus was awarded a corner kick in the 83rd minute, resulting in shots by first-year
Joseph Kmetz and sophomore
Michael McCool. However, both chances missed the target, resulting in the 2-1 defeat.
Haverford held a 16-10 advantage in shots and an 8-3 lead in shots on goal. The Fords had seven corner kicks to the Bears' three. Haverford goalkeeper Grayson Benson earned the win with two saves, while Moore took the loss with six saves.
The Bears close out a tremendous season with an 8-8-2 overall record and a 5-3-1 mark in Centennial Conference play, matching the most Centennial wins in program history.
