John Freeman, Editor 

La Salle Men’s Soccer (3-3-3) has tied two of their last three games—being outscored by their opponents 2-4. Only one of the team’s goals was scored in-play, and from the same three-game stretch, just 10 out of the Explorers’ last 18 shots were on target. The team has generally done well to create chances from set pieces this season but has struggled to fluidly score in play. This was mostly the case in the team’s last game against Rhode Island, where Sophomore Goalkeeper Filip Sabatti helped the Explorers maintain a clean sheet by making three crucial saves. 

This time last year, the Explorers had only won two out of nine games and lost a total of five out of nine. While the team’s record has improved, their volume of attack has not. This time last year, the Explorers had scored 11 goals and placed 47 out of their 112 shots on target— in contrast to having placed 34 out of 76 shots on goal up to this point in the 2023 season. The departure of attacking forces such as Nigel Buckley, Omari Coterell and Isak Sedin could be considered as a reason for the team’s decline in effective attacking play. Another reason for the team’s regression could be their lack of experience against tougher out-of-conference teams with such a young squad—as 21 of the team’s 30 players are underclassmen. However, the Explorers still have capable attackers in Sophomore Americo Pereira and Senior Omri Ezra, as well as other young talent to contribute to the team’s attacking production. The Explorers are currently playing with a four-man backline and have created much fewer chances for themselves than in previous seasons where they held a backline consisting of five men. The diagnosis seems to be the lack of successful medium and long passes leading to meaningful chances. Many of the longer passes the Explorers attempted to make against teams like Saint Joseph’s and Rhode Island did not find the feet of their intended targets. The Explorers did well in making short passes at times to create build-up plays but things seem to break down for this team once those passes reach the final third. 

A solution for the Explorer’s attacking struggles may be to focus more on maintaining possession in the midfield and taking longer shots from outside of the 18-yard box. The team is not benefiting from as many chances from counter attacks as they did last year with the speed and prowess of more experienced attackers in Buckley and Cotterell. Fortunately, Sabatti has been able to neutralize the team’s lack of attacking production with some clean sheets. Sabatti made some impressive saves in the team’s away game against Rhode Island on Saturday, one of which was a bullet from Rhode Island forward Inigo Etxegarai that led to a corner kick. These types of saves are ones that have kept the Explorers afloat this season and considerable contenders for the A-10 playoffs. Hopefully, this squad is able to combine their stellar shutouts with some dynamic goals scored in play to increase their likelihood of finishing the season in the top six of the A-10 as well. The Explorers will play their next game at McCarthy Stadium against George Mason on Saturday, Sept. 30. at 7 p.m. The game will be available to watch on ESPN Plus.