Women advance to A-10 tourney

By Mike McDonald
Collegian Editor
November 1, 2006

The women’s soccer team went into Washington, D.C. on Saturday needing a win to get into the Atlantic 10 Championships.

Junior Kristin Hextall is mobbed by her teammates after scoring the game winning goal
-Courtesy of Kevin Hyslop

Junior Kristin Hextall made it happen.

Her goal in the 105th minute of action gave the Explorers the win and boosted them into the tournament.

“It was a great goal, not to mention a much-needed win for our A-10 Conference record,” sophomore Dana Giordano said.

The scoring got started early, as Hextall scored her first goal of the game only eight minutes in. Assisting on that goal was junior Jenna Guagenti. The rest of the half was quiet, and the Explorers led 1-0 at halftime.

66 minutes into the game, the Colonials knotted the score at one, and the 1-1 tie held until the end of regulation.

In fact, it was not until there were less than six minutes remaining in double overtime that someone would score. It was Hextall, off assists from Guagenti and Giordano.

Hextall’s golden goal on Saturday gives her a total of eight career game-winning goals at La Salle, three of which have come this season.

In goal for the Explorers was sophomore Amy Grant, who made two saves en route to her seventh victory of the season.\

With the big win, the Explorers (6-2-1 in the Atlantic 10) advanced to the Atlantic 10 Championships for just the third time in school history. It is their third trip to the championship tournament in the last three years.

The Atlantic 10 Championships will be held in St. Louis, Mo. and begin on Thursday. The Explorers are slated for a first-round matchup with the Fordham Rams, and that game will be played on Thursday at 8:30.

The Explorers have faced Fordham once already this season. The game took place right here at McCarthy Stadium on Oct. 15.

That game took double overtime to decide a winner, as Fordham’s Katie Sanchez scored the game winner in the 108th minute of play. Fordham won the game, 2-1. La Salle’s goal was scored by Dana Giordano.

The Explorers hope to come out of this battle with a better result.

“We are definitely going to win. Earlier in the season, we played Fordham and we lost 2-1 in Double OT., “Giordano said. “It's hard to beat a team twice, so we're going out looking for a win.”

If they do win the game against Fordham, they will advance to the semifinal round, which will take place on Friday.

The Explorers have had a good season thus far, and they hope to keep things rolling in St. Louis this week. If they get the type of heroics they got in Washington, winning shouldn’t be a problem.

mcdonaldm2@lasalle.edu