COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A goal-scoring flurry by visiting Haverford early in the second half was too much for the Ursinus College men's soccer team to overcome in a 3-0 Centennial Conference defeat on Patterson Field.
The Bears (0-11-3, 0-7) battled the first-place Fords to a scoreless draw in the first frame, and were unlucky to take a lead into the break. Sophomore Alexis Ayala received a pass from senior Ben Amaral in the 32nd minute and took a turn before curling a beautiful shot that unluckily pinged off the right post and out of danger.
Haverford (8-4, 5-1) wasted no time putting its stamp on the second half, taking control with back-to-back goals by Peter Baroff inside the first seven minutes of the stanza. Nick Janelli added a third marker in the 72nd minute.
Ursinus frustrated the Fords in the first 45 minutes, allowing only four shots and relegating the visitors to a sequence of hopeful deep balls that floated harmlessly out of bounds. Senior Brandon Lillian made a nice play to thwart one of Haverford's few chances in the 16th minute, coming off his line to deny Baroff from close range.
The Fords were on the front foot from the opening kick of the second half. The breakthrough came in the 49th minute, as Baroff headed in Ben Clark's header following a corner kick from the right side. Baroff found the back of the net less than four minutes later, taking a through ball from Sykes Cargile and using a touch to get around Lillian and tap home into an empty net.
Janelli's bender from just outside the box tucked into the right corner of the net for some added insurance. The Bears produced a few half-chances, but nothing materialized.
Lillian finished with two saves for Ursinus, which was outshot 12-2.
The Bears head to Baltimore for a matchup with No. 17 Johns Hopkins on Saturday.