PHILADELPHIA, PA – As summer ramps up and La Salle's student-athletes are taking time away from the court, field, pitch or pool, we have an opportunity to reflect on an entire school year's worth of triumphs. From Atlantic 10 Tournament appearances to Academic All-Americans and success on the local and regional level, La Salle student-athletes have a lot from the 2010-11 year to be proud of. To that end, those of us at GoExplorers.com present a summer web series of the Top 11 moments or accomplishments of the past school year. Every few days, a new "top moment" will be released. At the conclusion of the release of all 11, La Salle fans will have the opportunity to vote on which moment or accomplishment they think was the top one of 2010-11
Our next moment on the list began to take shape on Halloween night 2010, when a decisive 3-0 victory for the La Salle women's soccer team over UMass not only closed the book on a very successful regular season, it also helped the program clinch a spot in the Atlantic 10 tournament for the first time since 2006.
“Having such a young core of players coming in the expectations were somewhat moderate,” said head coach
Paul Royal. “But we knew we had a talented bunch and the leadership of our upperclassmen really carried us into October and we were barely able to qualify for the tournament by the skin of our teeth.”
After the victory over the Minutemen, a group of Explorer faithful gathered in the mezzanine area adjacent to Tom Gola Arena to learn their fate on whether or not they would be participating in the postseason for the first time in four seasons.
With Richmond, Fordham and La Salle all nodded for the sixth and final seed with identical 4-4-1 conference records, it was up to the tiebreaking procedure to determine who would advance.
“I remember that night very vividly,” Royal said. “It was a very electric atmosphere after we found out that we got in. In my opinion, the most important part of that night was the younger players seeing first hand the magnitude of making it to an A-10 tournament.”
The following week in Kingston, Rhode Island, the Explorers faced another challenge in the form of the Duquesne Dukes in the quarterfinal round of the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championship.
Down 1-0 after just four minutes of play, freshman sensation
Renee Washington brought La Salle back with her 11
th goal of the season just 10 minutes later to tie the game at 1-1.
Washington struck again early in the second half to break a 1-1 tie and send La Salle to a 2-1 victory, their first ever win in the Atlantic 10 postseason.
“That was certainly a monumental stepping stone for our program,” Royal added. “We had so much confidence that we were going to win even though we fell behind. “Renee [Washington] had an incredible game and Anna [Dolhansky] was dribbling through the back line. It was a phenomenal display of effort to battle back and win that game.”
The following day, La Salle had another opportunity to advance further into the postseason when they took on top-seeded Charlotte. Despite falling behind 3-1 at the half, there were no long faces in the Explorers' locker room.
“Even against Charlotte when we were down 3-1 at half and I was talking to the kids in the locker room, they had the look in their eyes that they could come back and win this game,” said Royal. “The program is at a state right now where we are not just happy to be there, the experience that these kids gained by those lose or go home games really taught them how to fight and persevere.”
Coach Royal will return 100% of his scoring from last season as only two seniors depart from the 2010 squad. In addition, five freshmen have been added to the roster for 2011 with the hopes of making another deep run in the postseason.
“Moving forward I think our kids will be a lot hungrier in November, that is our goal, to not just be content with making it to the A-10 tournament,” said Royal. “I think 2011 could be a very magical year if we are healthy and if players live up to their expectations.”
