PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University men’s soccer team has qualified for the Atlantic 10 tournament in five of the past six years, and the team’s winning mentality for this year hasn’t changed.

This season, however, brings new head coach Rob Irvine into the spotlight after previous coach, Pat Ferrell, announced his retirement after 29 seasons back in June. Also new to the team is freshman goalkeeper Mark Tobin from Roman Catholic High School.

The 6’2” keeper showed his impeccable talent in the net time and time again for the Cahillites, especially last season when he helped lead the team to their first PCL Championship victory since 1997 after a round of penalty kicks.

“It was a great win for the seniors, especially after coming up short our junior year,” Tobin said. “We wanted to come back and go out on top and that’s what we did. It was the best way I could’ve ended my senior season.”

During his senior season, Tobin recorded 13 of his 30 high school career shutouts and made 59 saves on 67 shots. The Port Richmond native was awarded defensive MVP at Roman Catholic and selected First-Team All-Catholic, All-Southeastern PA, and All-Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer. 

Tobin chose to wear the Explorer’s blue and gold uniform over any other school because he wanted to be close to home and liked everything that the university had to offer. As a Criminal Justice major, Tobin says the schedule of both a D1 athlete and full time student consists of sleeping, eating, study hall, practice, and then repeating it over again the next day.

“The game is a much quicker pace [at the college level]. The players are stronger and faster and the thought process is a lot quicker. I just want to work hard and help the program as best as I can.”

The Explorers kicked off their season on August 26 with a 1-0 win at Loyal [MD.] and currently have a 4-1 record. They head to Virginia tomorrow where they take on James Madison at 7 P.M.