Sept. 13, 2007
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's soccer team (2-1-1) will travel to Philadelphia this weekend to compete in the Penn Soccer Classic. The Leopards will face La Salle on Friday and Hartwick on Sunday.
Lafayette was most recently in action at the UNC Greensboro Kickoff Classic on Sept. 7 and 9. The team opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over Davidson, the Leopards' first shutout of the season. Senior Scott Hawkins scored his first two goals of the year in the victory.
Lafayette then faced host UNC Greensboro and despite playing a man down for the majority of the match, played the Spartans to a 1-1 tie. Hawkins accounted for the Leopards' lone goal in the match, netting his team-best third of the season. For his performance, Hawkins earned honorable mention recognition from the Patriot League.
The Leopards left Greensboro with a win and a tie, marking the best record of the four teams at the tournament. Hawkins' three goals were also the most scored by a single player.
Hawkins, a senior Economics and Business major, leads the Leopards with six points on the season. Classmate Anthony Sepe has netted two goals for four points while five different Leopards have recorded assists this season. Goalie Philip Nelson, in his first season starting between the posts, has played every minute of Lafayette's four matches and has a 0.94 goals-against average.
The Leopards faced La Salle last season, recording a 3-1 victory over the Explorers. A goal from Hawkins tied the match at one and two Mark Price scores gave Lafayette the two-goal lead. The Leopards have not faced Hartwick since Sept. 1, 2004, when they dropped a 2-0 decision to the Hawks.
Following this weekend's tournament, Lafayette returns home for a three-game homestand, beginning with a 7 p.m. match against Philadelphia on Thursday, Sept. 20.
