Men’s soccer gets first A-10 win in season finale

After opening Atlantic 10 play with eight straight losses, the men’s soccer team earned its first conference win in its final game of the season Sunday with a 3-1 win over Saint Joseph’s.

GW has had trouble scoring for much of the season, but the Colonials came out firing Sunday against the Hawks, scoring three goals within the first 20 minutes of the game.

Sophomore forward Seth Rudolph, who scored in each of GW’s previous two games, remained hot Sunday, finding the back of the net in the eighth and 13th minutes to put GW up early.

Senior captain Marcus Ranney scored his first goal of the season in his final game as a Colonial in the 20th minute, putting GW up 3-0 headed into halftime.

“I was so pleased for him because he’s come close this season. It was a great goal actually. He hit it really well and it flew into the net,” men’s soccer head coach George Lidster said.

Rudolph added a third goal late in the game, completing the hat trick and growing his team-leading overall goal total to 10.

“Even though he’s our top scorer, we’ve talked about how he needs to be more composed in front of goal, and work a little harder for the ball,” Lidster said. “This weekend he did all of that, and was rewarded.”

The shutout victory was a happy ending on an otherwise difficult season for the Colonials, who went just 3-15 overall and dealt through injuries for much of the year.

Lidster said that while the team may have struggled for much of the season, the minutes logged by young players will pay dividends in years to come.

“The positive from the season is that the freshmen and sophomores got a lot of playing time this season. They know what it takes to win at this level, they know we have to get stronger, and work harder,” Lidster said. “They got valuable minutes this season, and it will help them in future years.”