Women's Soccer | October 23, 2019
PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle women's soccer team (9-6-1, 5-3 A-10) concludes the 2019 regular season with a pair of games that will determine the Explorers playoff seeding. La Salle clinched a spot in the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship after last week's wins over George Mason and Davidson, however a home playoff spot is still on the line as the team can finish anywhere from third to eighth.
The Explorers take on UMass (8-4-3, 5-2-1 A-10) in Amherst, Mass. on Thursday at 3 p.m. and host Dayton (6-7-3, 4-2-2 A-10) for Senior Day on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will stream on ESPN+.
La Salle currently sits third in the league with 15 points, just one behind UMass and one point ahead of Dayton.
The top eight teams make the playoffs, with the top four hosting quarterfinal games on either November 2 or 3. The semifinals and final will be played at Saint Louis on November 8 & 10, respectively.
SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:
- La Salle enters play on a two-game winning streak after defeating George Mason and Davidson last week.
- The Explorers swept the Atlantic 10 Weekly Awards after their 2-0 week as redshirt-senior Maci Bower earned Offensive Player of the Week, junior Claudia Jenkins was named Defensive Player of the Week, and freshman Naya Vialva claimed Rookie of the Week.
- Bower leads the team offensively with 15 points on seven goals and one assist.
- Junior Amirah Louketis is next on the team with 11 points on five goals and an assist.
- Rookie Leah Giles leads the Explorers with four assists.
- Jenkins has started every game in net for La Salle. She has a 1.29 goals against average with 82 saves and a .796 save percentage. The Kersbrook, Australia native has recorded five shutouts on the season. She ranks second in the A-10 and 26th nationally in saves.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEWOMEN:
- UMass has also won its last two games, defeating Davidson and Duquesne.
- The Minutewomen lead the Atlantic 10 in total assists, assists/game, and are second in total points and scoring offense.
- A trio of double-digit point scores lead the Minutewomen's offense, with Melissa Kossler sitting atop the team with 29 points on 11 goals and seven assists. Kossler leads the league in points, goals, goals/game, points/game, and shots on goal/game.
- Lauren Bonavita is next with 17 points (eight goals, one assist), followed by Rebecca Frisk with 11 points (four goals, three assists).
- Peyton Ryan has played every minute in net for UMass and posts a 1.59 goals against average with 60 saves and a .706 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE FLYERS:
- Dayton will come into Sunday's game after playing Fordham on Thursday.
- Alexis Goins leads the Flyers with 15 points on six goals and three assists. She's scored three more goals than any other Flyer this season.
- Laney Huber is second on the team with 10 points on three goals and four assists. Huber's four assists lead the Flyers.
- Emily Jones (2-1-1) has gotten the last three starts in net for Dayton after Carly Becker (4-6-1) started the first 13 games of the season. Jones has a 0.67 goals against average with 18 saves and a .857 save percentage.
