By Chris Gilbert
Contributing Writer
The men’s soccer team begins its Atlantic 10 Conference schedule this weekend, with games Friday against St. Joseph’s University and Sunday against La Salle. Both games are on the road, starting Friday at St. Joe’s at 7 p.m., and finishing Sunday afternoon at La Salle at 1 p.m.
The team looks to get its first conference wins on the road. The men open up their eight-game conference schedule with three of their first four games on the road, and hope to come away with early conference victories, according to Coach Mel Mahler.
Mahler said the past weekend was a good, but not great, effort as the team tied St. Francis 1-1. They will look to turn the tie into victories this weekend. Mahler also said they are two similar teams and their mindset going into the games are parallel.
“They are both well-coached teams and both play a very aggressive style. It is never easy to go into Philadelphia and play Philadelphia teams; we have our work cut out for us with both teams,” Mahler said. “They are both centered teams, and we will have to defend well and be patient in our defense. We have to be very aggressive when we win the ball going forward on counter attack. That is the key to being successful this weekend.”
The Bonnies enter the weekend with a 6-4-1 record. St. Joe’s is coming off a 3-3 tie against New Jersey Institute of Technology, a team that shut out the Bonnies earlier in the season. They come into the weekend with a record 2-3-5.
Both teams look to start off the A-10 schedule right and bounce back from ties of the previous weekend.
La Salle has lost two matches in a row to Big East powerhouses Villanova and St. John’s. They enter Sunday’s game with a record of 3-5-2, which will give the team a yearning for a strong start in conference play.
Look for the Bonnies to try and start this conference schedule off right this weekend with two wins and six points.
