HAVERFORD — Haverford captain Cruz Corialos was pleased when he saw the District 1 Class 4A boys soccer brackets.

The Fords all season have traced a line toward a berth in the state tournament. As the No. 4 seed, that pathway could include Lower Merion as an obstacle if everything stayed true to seed. Not just a familiar face, but the senior center back and his teammates liked the idea of revenge – for what feels like decades of domination by the neighboring, more distinguished program.

“It was better,” Corialos said. “Since we lost to them earlier this year, we wanted that revenge game.”

Haverford got it Saturday afternoon, behind a Seamus Lannon free kick goal and a stellar defense that led the Fords to a 1-0 win over their Central League rivals.

The win sends Haverford to Tuesday’s District 1 semifinal and to states for the first time since 1978, the first year that the PIAA allowed teams other than district champions in.

That history weighed on every step in the Fords’ journey.

“We talk about it all the time because they haven’t done anything really in 30 years or so,” Corialos said. “So we were excited to be the first team to do something.”

Try closer to 50.

Saturday’s Central rematch was a far cry from the Aces’ 2-0 win on Sept. 30. That game cost Haverford (16-2-2) a share of the Central League title, finishing a loss behind Harriton’s 9-1-1 league mark.

The previous meeting held emotional resonance, too, Haverford starting goalkeeper Liam Greenly dislocating his elbow in the game. Greenly was only cleared for contact Friday but not yet to resume goalkeeping duties. Instead, he turned in a 15-minute shift at left back to lock down the shutout.

None of that history – recent and ancient – was on the mind of Lannon when he lined up a free kick from 22 yards in the 45th minute. The Fords had won the set piece when Will Royle was felled on the edge of the area on a counterattack sprung by Jack Snopkowski, an invaluable pressure-release valve all day, finding space down the left channel.

Lannon measured it with his mind made up. A hard, on-target delivery nicked off the edge of the Aces wall, enough to put off goalie Sam McNeary. The shot ended up nearer the senior goalkeeper than he expected, but with sufficient bend and venom to elude him at head height.

“It was right on the edge of the 18,” Lannon said. “I feel like as soon as I saw that, I knew I was going to hit it. I called for it. I hit it hard on frame, think it might have deflected off one of LM’s players, but it was a great feeling when I saw it hit the back of the net.”

Haverford had nearly been undone in the game’s first minute, Sean Grein momentarily looking like a fill-in goalkeeper. He was caught out by a ball into the right channel, coming off his line to challenge LM forward Carson Cox. It took a back-tracking slide by center back Patrick Flynn to hook it off the line.

Bullet dodged, Haverford allowed two shots on target the rest of the way and not many more dangerous moments.

“Sometimes it tends to get the team worked up, but I wasn’t worried at all,” Corialos said of the early misstep. “I was confident in our play, and I didn’t think that would hold us back at all.”

Grein easily caught a turning header from Cox in the 31st minute, then he got his body behind a volley from Caden Arnold from 14 yards out in the 78th that the midfielder didn’t get all of.

In between, Corialos and Flynn put out fires in a physical, ill-tempered game. The junior midfield duo of Kieran Hevener and Zach Johnson formed an unbreachable shield in front of the backline.

“I trusted our defense,” Lannon said of desperation defense that rarely seemed desperate. “They were no nonsense all game. It’s mental: We had to really lock in, 15 minutes, anything can happen. But they did a great job, and I was confident in them.”

Haverford will travel Tuesday night to Henderson, the top seed that defeated Great Valley, 2-1. Lower Merion (14-3-3) will play back for a states berth, needing two wins to grab the fifth and final one.

For Haverford, meeting another traditional power like Henderson is another chance to upset the status quo among the district potentates.

“The final whistle was electric,” Corialos said. “It was so exciting to see that we took down Lower Merion for the first time in I don’t even know how many years.”