Box Score CHESTNUT HILL, Pa. – The Lafayette men's soccer team fell to La Salle 3-1 in a non-conference matchup Tuesday evening at McCarthy Stadium.
Neither side grabbed a good hold of the match in the opening 20 minutes, but as the half wore on La Salle got on the front foot by finding pockets in the midfield.
Junior goalkeeper
Eric Axtman made a big save in the 37
th minute, but the Explorers broke the deadlock just a minute later. Alexandru Zama turned with the ball in the Leopards' penalty area, beating his man to the byline. His low-driven cross to the back post found a waiting Andoni Garrogericcaechebarria who slid to tap home his first goal of the campaign.
The Leopards applied some late pressure with a string of corner kicks, but Lafayette trailed 1-0 at the intermission.
The Explorers picked up right where they left off to begin the second half, scoring their second goal of the match in the 51
st minute. A turnover by Lafayette near midfield gave freedom to Garrogericcaechebarria to drive at the Leopards' backline. His slipped through ball split both center backs and Colin Beasley ran onto the ball, tucking home his first goal of the season to Axtman's bottom-right side.
Freshman outside back
Anthony Durling almost cut Lafayette's deficit to a single goal, but his long-range effort struck the post despite having La Salle goalkeeper Randy Burkhardt beaten.
In the 68
th minute, La Salle took a 3-0 lead. Another turnover by the Maroon and White just outside their penalty area handed Beasley the ball with a direct line to goal. Beasley dribbled down the end line and slotted the ball into the far corner for his second goal of the night.
Two minutes later, Lafayette pulled a goal back. Senior midfielder
Lawrence Aydlett picked up the ball in a wide-attacking area before he accelerated to the byline. His fizzed cross ended up in a dangerous area where sophomore forward
Roy Biegon was waiting to tap the ball home. This was the Nairobi, Kenya native's fourth goal of the season.
The Leopards made offensive substitutions down the stretch to try and level the contest but La Salle was content with defending behind the ball for the final 20 minutes. At the final whistle, La Salle advanced to 2-4-3 on the year.
The Maroon and White are back in action at 2 p.m. on Saturday, returning to Patriot League action at Army.
To keep up with the Lafayette men's soccer team, follow its social media pages.
X/@LafayetteMSOC | Instagram/@lafayette_msoc | Facebook/GoLeopards
