Men's Soccer | August 28, 2015

 
PHILADELPHIA – After qualifying for five consecutive Atlantic 10 tournaments, the 2015 La Salle men's soccer team is trying to take the program to the next level by becoming the first Explorer team to win the A-10 tournament.
 
"First of all obviously is to get to the playoffs, and then take it game by game and win it," said senior Greg Henry. "It's definitely the number one goal."
 
The Explorers return 17 of the 20 goals they registered last season, including leading scorer Joe Farrell. The forward earned A-10 All-Conference Second Team honors after finishing with seven goals and four assists in 2015.
 
La Salle has a wealth of experienced midfielders including Henry and Matt Robinson, who combined for five goals and six assists last season. Midfielders Mike Liska and Johnny Ciarlante are coming off Soccer 6 All-Rookie campaigns last fall while senior Andrew Connors started 10 games in the midfield in an injury-plagued junior year.  
 
Defensively, backline anchors Colman Kennedy and Zach Rutherford return after starting 17 and 19 games last season, respectively. Senior goalkeeper Mike Kirk tallied six shutouts and a 1.20 goals against average a year ago.
 
Six newcomers also enter the program looking to make an immediate impact.
 
"It's a good mix of veterans and young guys, and I think we're gelling pretty well thus far," said Joe Farrell. "I think we're all going to be able to play for each other and with each other."
 
The Explorers open their season Friday night at Bucknell at 7 p.m.
 
"We expect a really good fight from Bucknell," said senior defender Shawn Mearig. "It's always a good game when we play them, hopefully we get a good result."