All-Delco Boys Soccer Player of Year: Connor Cresswell finds success in being ‘a regular kid’

HAVERFORD — Connor Cresswell heard the message from The Haverford School head coach Keith Cappo from Day 1 of preseason, not that the senior goalie necessarily found it a revelation.

The Fords had gone from the basement of the Inter-Ac League in 2021 to the title in 2023, Cappo’s first year in charge. But being the hunter and being the hunted would be much different. The Fords would sneak up on no one, the ability to play unfettered by expectations a luxury of the past.

Winning a title and defending it, Cappo implored his team, were two distinct challenges. And he entrusted Cresswell and his fellow leaders to impart that message to the current Fords.

“Finishing first and trying to repeat, it’s much harder,” Cresswell said. “So we kind of just had the mentality that every game, we were going to get the other team’s best, no matter what. We kind of played with that and we preached that in training to get that extra little bit out of everybody.”

With the target affixed firmly on their backs, Haverford School didn’t waver. The Fords lost once in the league, a mid-stream wakeup call from rival Episcopal Academy. It was the lone blemish on an 8-1-1 campaign, the first repeat champion in nearly a decade, since Haverford’s dynasty from 2012-15.

Backstopping it all was Cresswell, the All-Delco goalkeeper as a sophomore and junior, his first two years of high school soccer. Voted Inter-Ac MVP by league coaches, Cresswell is the 2023 Daily Times Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

Cresswell is joined on the All-Delco team by teammates Thomas Kaplan and Sebastian Perez-Gasiba; the Radnor quartet of Micheal Savadove, Brayan Chavez-Lopez, Andrew Marino and Nate Lucchesi; Delco Christian’s Cortez Cardone and Cody Dill; George Pezzeca of Strath Haven; Episcopal Academy’s Alex Barrist and Upper Darby forward Funsia Donzo.

Cresswell is a three-time selection, joined by two-time teammate Kaplan and Chavez-Lopez. Seniors dominate 10 of 12 spots on the first team, with only Marino and Donzo having another season remaining. Delco’s three championship squads – Inter-Ac winners Haverford School, District 1 Class 3A champ Radnor and PIAA Class A title-holder Delco Christian – comprise nine first-team spots and 14 on the top two teams. The All-Delco team is selected in consultation with local coaches.

Cresswell’s goalkeeping journey is common if kismet. At age nine, his club team needed a goalie. Taking a census of height, they pointed to Cresswell. He put on the gloves and found them to his liking. “I played well that one game and I was talking to my dad and was like, oh, I think I want to be a goalie,” he said.

He proved a fast learner. By age 12, he enrolled in YSC Academy, the Philadelphia Union’s school and development pipeline. Cresswell played from the Under-12 level to the Under-17s with the Union, with teammates that are or will soon sign first-team MLS deals.

At 6-2, Cresswell looks the part of a star goalie, with his elite shot-stopping. But the mental aspect, of embracing the loneliness and often thanklessness of the position, was just as central to his development.

“I love the pressure,” he said. “If you mess up one time, it can cost your team, but you also have the most responsibility on the field. I love taking that and embracing it and doing my part to help the team win.”

Early aptitude brought an early crossroads. After his freshman year at YSC, he and his father had frank discussions about where the 15-year-old saw his future heading. YSC would shepherd him toward a certain focus, with education along the way but with soccer as the ultimate end point. The tunnel vision would bring uncertainty if a pro contract wasn’t waiting for Cresswell, no guarantee even for the most talented prospects.

A jump to The Haverford School would balance the academic and athletic focus. It would still lead to college opportunities — Cresswell last month committed to play at Binghamton University — and could someday lead to professional soccer. But Cresswell and his family felt he’d be better positioned if the professional dream didn’t pan out.

“I remember having a lot of conversations with my dad about what I want out of life,” Cresswell said. “It’s just getting a great education and going to college for four years and if pro soccer happens after college, great. If it doesn’t, then great. The biggest thing for me is going to a place where I could get better in the classroom and on the field.”

In seeking the life of “a regular kid,” Cresswell achieved great triumphs on the field. The sophomore disappointment – Haverford went 3-12-2, tied for last in the league – didn’t prevent him from being named All-Delco, his talent obvious even among the win-loss carnage.

Like the rest of his teammates, including 2022 Player of the Year Joe Pariano, Cresswell was determined to improve. Ater seven league losses in 2021, the Fords have lost just three of the last 20 in the Inter-Ac. Cresswell led this year’s team to 14 victories with seven clean sheets, three in a high-scoring league.,

With Kaplan, Cresswell shouldered the on- and off-field burden of elevating the Fords program out of the wilderness. In meetings over dinners, in extra practice sessions, in team bonding, their connection epitomized not just Haverford’s revival but the rich experience Cresswell sought from high school soccer.

That resilience turned the only league loss into a benefit. The Fords started the league schedule 4-0 before a 1-0 loss to Episcopal Academy on Oct. 17 to end the first turn through the league.

The setback reminded a team that had perhaps grown complacent of Cappo’s preseason warning.

“With every season, there are a lot of peaks and valleys. That was definitely a valley for us,” Cresswell said. “It was a good wakeup call. Before that point, we were on a hot streak, we were like, ‘Oh, we’re going to win every game, we’re going to go undefeated.’ But after that game, we saw reality for what it was, saw the Inter-Ac for what it was. It’s a league where every game is not guaranteed, no matter who you play.

“It was a great wakeup call at a great time of the year.”

The call was heeded. After drawing with Penn Charter next time out, the Fords ran the table, punctuated by a 3-1 win over EA. They reached the semifinal of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association tournament.

Weathering adversity defined the 2022 title run. The EA loss provided the obstacle to overcome this year. Clearing it made the journey to another title that much more special.

“The first thing Thomas and I talked about after was like, wow, we did that,” he said. “It hasn’t been done in many years. It was a great feeling and it was an honor to be able to do it for this school.”