CHESTERTOWN — In defeat, Dickinson’s men still turned out to be winners.
At least for a hot second.
The Red Devils, who lost their regular-season finale at Johns Hopkins on Friday, Nov. 1, will host Washington’s men on Tuesday in the first round of the Centennial Conference soccer tournament.
Dickinson (13-2-3, 4-2-3 CC) pinned down the No. 4 seed in the six-school field after Washington was beaten at Franklin & Marshall on Saturday night, 2-1.
Washington (8-4-6, 4-3-2) is the No. 5 seed.
Senior Mayowa Taiwo of Chestertown, a graduate of Kent County High School, is a captain for Washington, which advanced to the 2023 NCAA Division III national semifinals after receiving an at-large bid to the tournament.
On Saturday, No. 19-ranked F&M (9-1-7, 7-1-1 CC) and Washington played to a scoreless tie at halftime — despite the host Diplomats’ 8-3 advantage in shots.
F&M dented the scoreboard in the 57th minute when a loose ball in the box found the foot of senior Koa Kaliebe, who buried a shot into the top right corner of the net for his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
Jack Borden, another of the eight F&M seniors honored before the match, was credited with his first assist of the season.
Washington deadlocked at 1-apiece in the 69th minute on freshman Ethan Watson’s shot that tucked just inside the right post. The scoring sequence began when Tyler Davidson crossed the ball to Francesco Bertolini, who headed the ball right to Watson’s feet.
This was Watson’s first goal as a Shoreman.
The Diplomats regained the lead for good in the 86th minute, 2-1, when senior Isaac Mintz sent a long crossing pass that was headed into the right side of the net by freshman Thomas Kaplan.
F&M finished with a 19-14 advantage in shots, including 9-4 on frame, after each side had 11 shots in the second half.
Nolan Booth was credited with three saves for the winners.
Anthony Pinto had seven saves for the Shoremen.
He has returned as Washington’s starting keeper after missing 13 matches due to an injury suffered in the season opener.
****
Washington, the 2021 champion, has qualified for the Centennial Conference tournament for the fourth year in a row under head coach Roy Dunshee.
Johns Hopkins locked up the top seed in the conference tournament with a 4-2 victory over Dickinson on Friday night, while the other five playoff seeds were finalized on Saturday during the final day of regular-season play.
The Blue Jays (11-3-3, 7-1-1 CC) needed a win on Friday to assure themselves of the top seed, as F&M’s men had the same number of points entering their respective regular-season finales.
JHU accomplished what it needed to with a win over Dickinson to clinch home field advantage in the Centennial tournament for the first time since 2021. Hopkins is the defending CC champion and has never missed the conference postseason in its 23 years of existence.
F&M already had clinched the No. 2 seed entering Saturday’s match against Washington.
With the win, the Dips tied the Blue Jays with 22 points atop the CC standings, but a 2-1 victory for Johns Hopkins on Oct. 19 in Baltimore secured the head-to-head tiebreaker and the top seed for the Blue Jays.
F&M is appearing in the Centennial Conference tournament for the 14th consecutive season.
Tuesday’s other first-round match sends No. 6 seed McDaniel (9-6-2, 4-4-1 CC) to No. 3 seed Muhlenberg (10-3-5, 4-1-4 CC).
The Mules and Green Terror will face off in a rematch of Saturday’s regular-season finale. Tied at 13 points apiece entering that contest, the Mules blanked the Green Terror, 4-0, to earn the No. 3 seed following losses by both Dickinson and Washington.
Muhlenberg is making its third straight playoff appearance while McDaniel qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2005.
Johns Hopkins will host the lower seeded first-round winner in Friday’s semifinals, and F&M will welcome the higher seeded first-round winner.
The highest remaining seed following Friday’s semifinals will host the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 10.