Perez and Dougherty all-Rookie
Washington, D.C. - Three La Salle University men's soccer players earned all-conference honors at the annual Atlantic 10 men's soccer tournament banquet on the eve of the conference play-offs.
Senior co-captain Kevin Coleman (Media, PA/Penncrest) was named all-Atlantic 10 first team while Ryan Dougherty (Wilmington, DE/Salesianum) and Andrew Perez (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) were named to the All-Rookie squad.
Coleman currently leads the Explorers in points with 14, as he has scored four goals and six assists. Coleman also leads the team in game winners, including two against Philadelphia Soccer Seven opponents Drexel and Philadelphia as well as the game winner over Xavier.
The co-captain is one of just four players to start in all 18 games played this season. Coleman has taken 17 shots this season and 11 of those shots have been on goal (.647). He, along with fellow senior co-captain Stash Graham (Tampa, FL/Jesuit) lead a defense that has posted seven shut outs this season. Coleman has earned Philadelphia Soccer Seven player of the week honors once this season.
This is the third time in his four year career that Coleman has garnered Atlantic 10 post-season honors. Coleman was named to the first team following his junior season in 2003 and also made the all-rookie team following a stellar freshman season.
Freshman Ryan Dougherty leads the A-10 in scoring among rookies. His six goals this season makes him the La Salle team leader in goals this season. Dougherty also leads the team in shots on goal as 13 of his 18 shots have been on goal (.722).
Dougherty was the team hero as the Explorers headed into a must-win situation at Fordham in their final home game of the season. Dougherty scored both the game winner and added an insurance goal less than two minutes later to boost La Salle into the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time in seven years.
Along with his six goals, Dougherty also has one assist this season. He assisted on fellow freshman Jeremy Ortiz's (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) game winner in La Salle's 2-1 victory over St. Bonaventure.
Dougherty is joined on the All-Rookie team with Andrew Perez. Perez is currently tied for second on the team in goals with five and has also added two assists for 12 total points.
Perez scored his first and second collegiate goals of his career when the Explorers defeated Bucknell in a 4-3 shoot out in their second home game of the season. Perez has appeared in all 18 games during his rookie campaign and started the final eight regular season games.
Perez earned A-10 rookie of the week honors after scoring two goals in their A-10 opening weekend. He scored the game-tying goal in La Salle's 2-1 victory over George Washington and went on to score the insurance goal in the Explorers 3-0 routing of Richmond. Perez also scored on Dougherty's second goal, which led the Explorers to the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
The Explorers will kick off A-10 Tournament action as they face the Temple University Owls in round one, Thursday, November 11th at 11:00 a.m. at George Washington. The Explorers fell to the Owls 2-1 during the regular season in an extremely tight 2-1 loss in which Temple scored the game winner with just about two minutes remaining in the game.
