-- Sophomore back Chris Shelton may not score often, but when he does it is always big. His latest goal came in the 60th minute of Temple's opening round Atlantic 10 Championship match against city-rival La Salle held Thursday afternoon at George Washington's Mount Vernon campus. Shelton's tally broke a scoreless tie and lifted the Owls to a 1-0 win over the Explorers. With the victory, Temple (11-7-2) advances to play second-seeded Dayton Friday at 1:00 p.m.
Shelton, known mainly for helping the Cherry and White defense compile a stingy 0.97 goals against average, headed home a loose ball in the box off a pass from junior Tony Donatelli. It was the second career goal for Shelton, a product of nearby Washington Township HS (NJ), with the other coming in a 1-0 win over Duquesne on October 22.
"It was just a corner kick," said Shelton on his game-winning goal. "Don (Donatelli) was behind me and he won it. It went a kids hand and just dropped in front of the net. I just dove and headed it right into the net."
Temple dominated the first 45 minutes of play, but was unable to put one past senior goalkeeper Stash Graham. The A-10 leader in saves with 111, Graham made five of his nine stops in the first half and set a new La Salle career saves mark in the process.
In the second half, the Explorers jumped out early, testing senior keeper Patrick Hannigan. Named A-10 Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season the night before, Hannigan was equal to Graham, recording three saves in the match, including a diving stop in the first five minutes of the second half to keep it scoreless.
"It was a great game," stated Temple coach David MacWilliams. "We had quite a few chances in the first half. Stash (Graham) played unbelievable. It came down to a one-goal game and we talked about that coming into the tournament. We were prepared."
The Owls out-shot the Explorers, 22-14, with Donatelli accounting for a game-high six shots. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Heins added four shots for Temple while Josh France led LSU with three shots.
Temple must now get past Dayton ((11-6-1) to reach the finals for the second straight season. The Flyers defeated the Owls, 2-1, in Ohio on October 10.
