The GW men’s soccer team split a pair of road matches this weekend, gaining little ground in its pursuit of the final playoff spot. The team dropped a game Sunday at St. Joseph’s after shutting out Temple Friday.

The Colonials (5-5, 2-3 A-10) are tied for seventh place in the Atlantic 10 Conference but are one of six teams three points removed from the final qualifying spot for the A-10 Championship tournament.

Within the next two weeks, GW will play two of three teams ahead of them in the standings – Rhode Island and La Salle. The team has six conference games remaining, four at home and two on the road.

Teams combined for 35 fouls in GW’s 3-0 loss at St. Joseph’s Sunday.

The Colonials fell behind at the 40-minute mark when Kevin Schmidt headed a ball off a throw-in past GW goalkeeper Nick Parypinski.

St. Joseph’s (7-4-0, 3-2-0) increased its lead 2-0 when a GW defender put the ball into his own net, three minutes into the second half. Then Adam Duffy put the game out of reach 14 minutes later, scoring his first goal of the season.

The Colonials out-shot the Hawks 13-12 but were unable to get anything past St. Joseph’s goalkeeper Kevin Dougher, who posted his third shutout in four games.

Nick Parypinski recorded his first shutout of the season in GW’s 1-0 win at Temple.

The first half was a struggle for both teams offensively, with Temple doubling GW’s shot total four to two.

GW overcame this with a lone goal five minutes into the second half when senior Matt Pilkington received a pass at midfield from Riccardo Forno and beat two Temple defenders. It was Pilkington’s team-leading seventh goal of the season.

Temple’s (2-9-1, 1-4-0) offense continued to sputter in the second half as Parypinski only had to make two saves to ensure the shutout victory. Parypinski made six saves on the day.

The Colonials play two matches at home this weekend, taking on LaSalle Friday at 3 p.m. and Fordham Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be played at the Mount Vernon field.