SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The road to the 2012 Centennial Conference championship will go through Clothier Field Stadium.

Senior Brett McLarney headed home a goal in the third minute and sophomore Michael Stewart sealed it with a score in the 54th minute as the Swarthmore College men's soccer team (13-1-2, 8-0-1) defeated rival Haverford 2-0 on Saturday evening in front of a capacity crowd on hand for Garnet Weekend.

With the win, the Garnet claimed the Centennial Conference regular season championship and secured home-field advantage for next weekend's Centennial Conference playoffs. At 8-0-1, Swarthmore also finished off its best Centennial Conference regular season in program history.

You couldn't have scripted a better start for the Garnet, as McLarney - who was honored with his three other classmates just moments earlier - gave the Garnet the early edge with his first goal of the season. Following an early substitution, the Garnet caught the Fords napping, as a long throw from junior Jake Weiner went to junior Jack Momeyer, who headed it off to McLarney, who then headed the ball into the back of the net to put Swarthmore ahead 1-0.

In the second half, the Fords threatened on several occasions, but Stewart made sure there would be no comeback in the 54th minute. Thanks to an excellent set-up from freshman Wyatt McCall and junior Joe Keedy, Stewart took a misplayed ball from a Haverford defender and side-footed it into the goal to make it a 2-0 lead. The goal was Stewart's team-leading 12th of the season and marked the seventh time in the last eight games that he has found the back of the net.

That was all the cushion that the Garnet defense needed, as goalkeepers Jake Tracy and Peter Maxted combined to shut out the Fords and preserve the 2-0 victory.

Prior to the start of the match, the program honored its four seniors - Tracy, McLarney, John Pontillo and Thomas Drew.

At halftime, the Department of Athletics recognized the members of the inaugural class of the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame, which consisted of Avery "Bunky" Blake Jr. '53 (lacrosse, football);Charles "Chip" Chevalier '93 (football); Danielle Duffy '98 (field hockey, track and field); Richard "Dick" Esrey '50 (football, basketball, baseball); Richard "Dick" Hall '52(baseball, track and field, football, basketball, soccer); Eleanor Kay "Pete" Hess(coach/administrator); Patrick "Hondo" Holmes '82 (wrestling); Gwyneth Jones Cote '84 (lacrosse, field hockey); Heather Kile Lord '02 (basketball, lacrosse); Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, Class of 1907 (football, track and field); McWelling "Mac" Todman '77 (soccer, track, and field); and the 1984–1985 men's tennis team.

The top-seeded Garnet will now face the winner of the Centennial Conference First Round playoff game between No. 4 seed Johns Hopkins and No. 5 seed Franklin & Marshall on Saturday. Times for the Centennial Conference semifinals and final will be announced on Monday.