Men's Soccer | August 25, 2016

PHILADELPHIA – After qualifying for the Atlantic 10 tournament in five of the past six years, the goal for the 2016 La Salle men's soccer team hasn't changed.

But the man who hopes to lead them there has. New head coach Rob Irvine will take over the helm following the retirement of 29 year head coach Pat Farrell, the winningest coach in La Salle men's soccer history. Irvine, a Toronto, Ontario native, recently led Kean University to its most victories (12) since the 2002 season in a conference that is recognized as one of the most competitive in Division III.  This was preceded by a stint as an assistant at Penn where he helped guide the Quakers to three NCAA Tournament appearances (2008, 2010 and 2013) and a pair of Ivy League Championships (2008, 2013).

At La Salle, Irvine will welcome new production to the Blue and Gold following a strong graduating class of 2015 that included top scorer Andrew Connors and four-time All-Regional pick Joe Farrell. This year, Irvine sees power in balance for the 2016 squad.

"We have a good collective group," he assures. "We don't isolate one player. We find strength in how we play together as a team—the players fight for each other."

In goal, senior Mike Kirk expects to start for the third consecutive year. Kirk notched four shutouts last season and finished with a .656 save percentage. His six shutouts in 2014 rank sixth all-time for a single season in program history. Over the summer, Kirk helped the top-level amateur Ocean City Nor'easters to an Eastern Conference Championship in the Premiere Development league. He hopes his success carries into the season.

"Our goal is to get back to the A-10 Tournament," said Kirk. "It's as simple as that."

Senior Colman Kennedy and junior Joe Hanson, each of whom scored two goals and one game-winner in 2015, hope to provide offense and leadership to the team.

"I think we'll work well as a team," Kennedy predicted for the the season. "We've been putting an emphasis on pressing in the preseason and we hope to do that well this year."

Juniors Mike Liska and Johnny Ciarlante will also be key returnees. Liska was the team's leader in assists (5) from a year ago. The group is expected to provide leadership in guiding what looks to be a young, talented core into fruition.

"They do a lot of the little things," Irvine said of his upperclassmen. "Things you can't see in the stat sheet."

Redshirt sophomore Tony Daniele, on the other hand, is no stranger to the stat sheet. Daniele proved to be part of the budding core following a 2015 campaign in which he tied for second on the team in both points (7) and assists (3). He was one of four Explorers to play in all 18 games and was a beneficiary of a hot start to the season that included six points in the team's first four matches.

Daniele will be joined on defense by fellow sophomore Garrett Keys, who is looking to build upon his promising freshman campaign when he was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, and by junior Zach Rutherford who is perhaps the team's best one-on-one defender.

Matt Robinson, a redshirt junior, hopes to have a strong bounce back season. The midfielder/forward played a pivotal part in the 2014 team, scoring four goals to go along with two assists in 18 games as a sophomore before an ankle injury kept him out for the entire 2015 season.

The season kicks off on Friday, August 26 with a match at Loyola (Md.). The Explorers make their return to McCarthy Stadium for their home opener on Tuesday, August 30. This season's schedule features a tough slate of Atlantic 10 games including two conference opponents who received votes in the NSCAA pre-season rankings (Dayton and VCU) as well as non-conference Soccer 6 matchups with Penn and Drexel.