NEWTOWN SQUARE - With the Penn Charter Quakers tying Germantown Academy an hour earlier on Nov. 9, The Haverford School knew a win or tie against Episcopal Academy would secure their third straight Inter-Ac Title. 

Make it a three-peat. 

The Fords defeated the Churchmen 1-0 on EA/Haverford Day, with Penn Charter finishing second and Episcopal third. 

“When guys with not a ton of Inter-Ac experience are able to step up and able to answer the call when they knew from the beginning of the year that there was not a lot of belief in us because we graduated so many key pieces, but we had so many guys step in and scored big goals throughout the year from different guys… it was fun to work with,” Haverford coach Keith Cappo said. 

If you ask anyone on Haverford, they did not want the tie. They wanted to beat Episcopal outright to win the Inter-Ac. Nonetheless, after a scoreless first half and that featured some more dominant play by the Churchmen, it could have appeared that a tie would be good enough for the Fords. 

For the first 40 minutes, Episcopal certainly took their shots. Even though they were already fixed at finishing third in the league, it is a pride thing for the Churchmen. It is EA/Haverford Day and it was on Episcopal’s campus in front of hundreds of people. Besides, this Episcopal team is no slouch. They finished the year 13-5-4 and 5-3-2 in conference, including two wins against Penn Charter and a win against Westtown.

Episcopal’s Balthazar Buccini was a problem for the Fords. Throughout the first half and really the entire game, Buccini took it on the left side and drove downfield all game, putting up several competitive shots and forcing a few corner kicks. 

While Buccini applied pressure, Haverford’s sophomore goalkeeper Graham Costello answered the call every time, as he has all year. The Churchmen’s Graham Quedenfeld and Michael McGonagle fired a few shots up close which were brilliantly denied by Costello. 

“Whether or not the ball is on our side or their side, you just have to be confident in yourself; you have to be calm” Costello said. “You have a job to do yourself; can’t worry about how the game is going. Just have to focus on you.”

After halftime and some adjustments, Haverford made sure that they were still aggressive in efforts to win the league through their own win and not from a tie. 

They struck early, buckling down and giving them the advantage they were looking for. 

Haverford had a numbers advantage after a quick change of possession, as junior Avery Paul  took the ball down the right side with a one-on-one opportunity against Episcopal’s goalie, Charles Esterhai, with a few defensemen trailing Paul by a step. Paul’s shot got by Esterhai, who was out of net, and sophomore Haven Hoilett finished the ball through the back of the net uncontested to give the Fords a 1-0 lead with 32 minutes remaining in the game. 

“Last year I did not play on EA Day; I was on the bench the whole time,” Hoilett said. “So, I knew I was going to make an impact on the game; that’s why I got a haircut before the game, I was waiting for pictures after I scored…  I just wanted to get a three-peat for my brothers.”

What made Hoilett’s goal even more special, besides the fact he scored the title-winner?

In mid-October, Hoilett had pneumonia causing him to miss several games, including their road game at Penn Charter which the Fords lost 1-0.

The illness forced Hoilett out of the starting lineup, but the eventual return to soccer gave him the opportunity to capitalize and leave his mark on the season for the 2024 Haverford Fords. 

“My lungs were awful [at the time],” Hoilett said. “But I just kept on practicing until I could get here.”

With the new lead, Haverford turned to protecting it. They still ran some plays on the offensive end after the goal, but shifted their scheme several minutes after to put more guys back in efforts to make it nearly impossible for Episcopal to counter. 

Of course, they would not. 

“With around 18 minutes left we went to five in the back,” Cappo said. “And that’s a grind, especially when some guys have been playing a lot. Their [Episcopal] left side of their attack is probably some of the best in the Inter-Ac. For those guys to deal with that and handle that, it was big.”

Hoilett was one of the forwards who dropped back, but fortunately he had familiarity playing that way since he used to be fullback “a long time ago.”

Episcopal would fire away on net for the remainder of the game, often taking some desperate shots just to get something on net. Costello greeted and stopped all shots, falling down several times after stopping all threats on goal by the Churchmen. 

With minutes remaining, Haverford send the ball downfield, killing time and any chance of good field position for Episcopal. 

As the buzzer rang, hundreds of Haverford students flooded the field, removing the metal fences that otherwise did a decent job of separating the fans from the players. 

“It was a great game; it did not come easy,” Costello said. “We struggled through the first and then they had possession more in the second half. But, we came out on top, 1-0. That’s all you can ask for.”

As Cappo celebrated with his team, his Haverford apparel boasted the 2023 title championship on the side of his long sleeve and on the back of his vest, honoring last year’s team. 

He’s going to need some up-to-date apparel. 

“The biggest thing for me is to give these guys this experience, to do everything I can from a coach,” Cappo said. “We focused on working hard and being a team. We weren’t defined by a single person; we were defined by being a team, working together, and constantly grinding no matter what the situation was in games.”

As for whether Haverford had known the outcome of the Penn Charter match… yes, they were aware. 

But, as they said, it meant more to win it outright. 

“I don’t want to share it with anyone else because I think winning is everything,” Hoilett said, liking the idea that it is solely a Haverford award. 

Cappo, who is a Penn Charter alum, knows how special it is to be the sole team with the trophy, especially having to fend off his alma mater over the last few years.

“We wanted to win it outright; that’s always the goal,” Cappo said. “It’s been a great battle with them [Penn Charter] within the last two seasons. They’re a fantastic team, well coached, and obviously for me, a little bit weird coaching against them, but the boys did not come out just happy to tie, they wanted to get the win.”