PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's men's soccer squad battled to a 2-2 draw with La Salle in a highly-physical Atlantic 10 and Philadelphia Soccer Six contest on Wednesday evening on Sweeney Field. With the decision, the Hawks remain undefeated at home this year, with a record of 4-0-1.

Overall, SJU improves to 6-3-2 (0-0-2 A-10, 0-0-1 Soccer Six) while La Salle stands at 2-7-1 overall (0-1-1 A-10, 0-1-1 Soccer Six). 

With the draw, the Hawks pick up their second point in league play, but head coach Don D'Ambra feels his squad can play at a higher level. 

“We're having a hard time right now adjusting to the other teams' adjustments going into the second half,” said D'Ambra in reference to La Salle's pair of second-half scores. “We give the other teams life when we get slow in the second halves, and that gives the other teams offensive momentum. We have opportunities to put games away, and we aren't.”

In a match that saw both sides earn copious amounts of offensive opportunities with 18 shots apiece, SJU got on the board first, in the 30th minute, as sophomore midfielder Alvin Dahn took a beautiful pass up from sophomore midfielder Ritchie Barry, flew by his defender, and hit the back of the net for his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

La Salle's Soji Olatoye responded within the first 10 minutes of second-half action, as a headed pass from Ike Hollinger put the ball off of an SJU defender and at Olatoye's feet, right in front of the SJU goal. Olatoye calmly put away the equalizer to even out the scoring, 1-1, in the 55th minute.

Just under eight minutes later, Olatoye would complete the brace to put the Explorers up, 2-1, in the 63rd minute.

That lead wouldn't last, as Dahn swung a pass over to the left side for sophomore defender Daniel Morales, and Morales worked himself free enough to find senior midfielder Derek MacKinnon in front of the net; MacKinnon headed in his second of the year for the match-changing equalizer.

Barry and freshman forward Frantz Pierrot forced La Salle goalkeeper Cameron Keys into a pair of saves in the 67th and 71st minutes, respectively, but the Hawks couldn't break through for that third goal in regulation. 

The first overtime saw Dahn nearly come away as the late-match hero, heading a ball just high in the 99th minute. Dahn, Barry, and junior forward Leon Maric all fired off shots in the second overtime frame, but all went high; on the defensive end of the second OT, freshman goalkeeper Joseph Boehm made two stops (106', 107') to preserve the tie.

Boehm (6-3-2, 0-0-2 A-10) made five saves on the night while redshirt junior defender Mike Fornaro made a handful of tough plays to break up potential offensive opportunities from the Explorers.

“They knew it was going to be a physical kind of game,” added D'Ambra of his squad's expectations of the city-rivalry contest. “It came down to chances, and we had more of them. We just didn't execute. But the defensive effort was good. We battled and played tough.”

Saint Joseph's remains home to host Fordham this Saturday, October 6 at noon on Sweeney Field.