The La Salle men’s soccer team defeated St. Bonaventure  2-1, thanks to midfielder Jason Plumhoff.

After a scoreless first half, both teams came out after the break with a faster tempo. This resulted in La Salle’s (5-5-2, 2-0 Atlantic 10) first goal off the head of Pat Sullivan. Eight minutes later, Emmett O’Connor countered with a goal to tie the game.

As play went on, so did the physicality. St. Bonaventure’s (7-5-1, 1-1-0 A-10) Eric Smolarek landed himself a red card with a slide tackle on Plumhoff. With a yellow card already to his name, Smolarek headed to the sideline.

With the man advantage, the Explorers began exerting more pressure on the Bonnies. Finally in the 79th minute, Nick Becker played a low cross in front of the net to Plumhoff, who capitalized on his opportunity.

The Explorers return to action on Oct. 18 when they take on A-10 rival Saint Joseph’s.

Dayton Opens A-10 play with a tie

No. 19 Dayton took on George Washington in its first Atlantic 10 game of the season on Friday. It was a hard-fought battle throughout, but neither team recorded a score, as the game finished in a 0-0 tie.

Shots were hard to come by early, as Dayton (10-0-2, 0-0-2 A-10) only had two in the first half compared to zero by George Washington.

The Flyers controlled the game but failed to capitalize on their opportunities. The Colonials’ defense held strong against Dayton.

After both teams failed to score in regulation, nothing changed in the first overtime, leading to a second extra period. Dayton battled hard in the second overtime, recording a number of chances. A late offside call negated a potential game-winning goal for the Flyers.

Dayton tied again on Sunday against Fordham. Its next game will be on the road at Saint Louis on Saturday at 7 p.m.

VCU wins third straight victory

Virginia Commonwealth improved to 6-4-1 and 2-0-0 in A-10 play with a 3-1 victory over Rhode Island (2-7-0, 0-1-0 A-10) on Sunday.

This was VCU’s third straight victory, and it propelled the Rams to the top of the A-10 standings.

Scoring came early for VCU, as Ritchie Duffie scored his second goal in as many games to give VCU an early 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.

URI had its chances to get back in the game, but saves by VCU goalkeeper Andrew Wells prevented it from getting on the scoreboard.

The first half ended with VCU up 1-0. In the second half, more of the same happened. Missed shots and opportunities haunted both teams until finally, in the 82nd minute, VCU’s Garrett Harvey extended their lead to 2-0. Matt Sykes answered for URI seven minutes later to put his team on the board.

On the ensuing kickoff, VCU caught URI goalkeeper Thomas Spenser too far outside the box as Dakota Barnathan tapped to Jose Manel, who then lofted a shot from just inside midfield over Spenser’s head to put VCU in front, 3-1.

VCU concludes its season-long four-match homestand on Oct. 18 against defending national champion Indiana.

Tyler Fiedler can be reached at [email protected]