PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's soccer team earned the No. 8 seed in the 2026 Betterment Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Tournament and will face No. 1 seed Duquesne in the quarterfinals at Rooney Field in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. This is the third consecutive year that men's soccer has made an appearance in the quarterfinals.
The Explorers finished the regular season 7-7-3 overall and 3-3-2 in Atlantic 10 play. The Blue & Gold played 2-4-2 in the month of October, posting two shutout wins in the last two games to end the season. La Salle led the conference in shots per game (16.59), shots on goal per game (7.41), and total goals (38). The Explorers were eighth nationally for shots on goal per game and ninth in shots per game.
La Salle defeated Duquesne 3-0 to finish the regular season on October 31. The Dukes had outshot the Explorers 19-7 in the match, but were even in shots on goal at four. Both teams combined for ten corner kicks, with the Explorers earning four of them.
Junior forward Gabe Faust led the conference in shots with 44, was second in shots on goal with 21, tied for second in goals with seven, and tenth in points with 14, making him a serious contender for Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year. Faust earned Philly Soccer Six Player of the Week honors back in August after scoring four goals in the first three contests of the season.
Sophomore forward Julius de Vries tied for third in conference in shots with 41, and tied for fourth in conference in shots on goal with 17. He recorded 1,143 minutes this season, the second-most on the team. He tallied three goals and two assists this season for eight points. He earned Philly Soccer Six Co-Player of the Week honors in September, having the game-winning tallies in a 1-0 win at Lafayette and a 4-2 victory at Monmouth.
Senior forward and midfielder Kyrese Lynch-Bailey ranked seventh in the conference in shots with 37 and tied for fifth in goals with six, with two of them coming in the win over Duquesne. Those two goals secured the Blue & Gold a spot in the postseason, and earned him both Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week and Philly Soccer Six Player of the Week honors. Lynch-Bailey is one of six Explorers to play over a thousand minutes, recording 1,066.
Tying his teammate in goals was junior midfielder Alberto "Toto" Esquivel Meza. Esquivel Meza was also tied for fourth in game-winning goals with two, and sixth in points with 13. He led the team in penalty goals, converting all five of his attempts. He earned Philly Soccer Six Player of the Week honors in October for his goal at St. Bonaventure.
Senior defender Sasha Rabala led the Blue & Gold in minutes played, with 1,389. Rabala started all but one of the 17 games he appeared in. An integral part of the defense and Atlantic 10 All-Conference nominee, he had only three games all season where he did not record 80 minutes or more.
Also up for consideration for Atlantic 10 All-Conference and Goalkeeper of the Year, graduate student goalkeeper Maximilian Retzer posted 33 saves in his 11 appearances in net. His 3.00 saves per game earned him ninth in conference. He tied his season-high five saves in a game on three different occasions, and recorded his first collegiate assist at George Washington. Retzer finished the season with a 5-4-2 record. He earned Philly Soccer Six Goalkeeper of the Week honors in September for his efforts against Dayton, notching La Salle's first result against the Flyers since 2016.
Another contender for Atlantic 10 All-Conference is graduate student goalkeeper Sean Ellis. Ellis matched his career-high saves of nine against the nation-leading team in shots, NJIT, earlier this season. Ellis also recorded his first collegiate assist in that match. Ellis secured two clean sheets against St. Bonaventure and Duquesne to finish the season, posting a 2-2-1 record. He earned Philly Soccer Six Goalkeeper of the Week honors in October for his three saves against George Mason and two saves and shutout at St. Bonaventure.
La Salle is one of five Division I teams to have 12 or more different goalscorers in the season, with 13 different Explorers finding the back of the net.
The Explorers have made three postseason appearances since 2022 (2022, 2024, 2025), all under head coach Taylor Thames.
