Nov. 14, 2010

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, NC - The La Salle men's soccer team gave up two second-half goals as its Atlantic 10 title bid fell short against Xavier on Sunday at Charlotte's Transamerica Field. The Explorers record is now 9-7-3, while the Musketeers move to 11-6-4 and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"We did some special things this year," Head Coach Pat Farrell said. "It's something to be proud of as we move forward and as time goes on, we'll realize what we achieved."

Three Explorers earned All-Tournament Team honors, including Jeff Pio, Dan Korenyi and Junior Chapman, who scored both goals on Friday to send the Explorers to today's championship match.

Coming into today, only five teams had captured the Atlantic 10 title in the last 13 years. Xavier became the sixth, earning its first title.

The Explorers had some looks, including a 13-9 advantage on shots and 7-2 on corner kicks. However, tournament MVP Justin Marshall picked up where he left off against Charlotte on Friday night and kept the Blue & Gold off the board. Ryan Sepe gave the team its best chance with just under 20 minutes when he bounced a line-drive shot off the right post.

The team was scoreless at the half after mustering five shots apiece, before XU's James Getzen broke the tie in the 58th minute on a pass from Luke Spencer followed by a one-on-one breakaway. Matt Walker scored the insurance goal at 78:02 on a pass from Bryan Kanu from about 40 yards out. In total, both teams mustered just six shots on goal in a tight defensive battle.

Marshall earned the win in goal, stopping three shots, while John McCarthy takes the loss and registered one save.