Split weekend for men's soccer

The Xavier men's soccer team experienced some highs and lows on the road in Atlantic 10 play this past weekend.

On Friday night, the Musketeers fell 0-1 to No. 16 Charlotte in overtime. Xavier responded

on Sunday with a road win over Saint Louis, improving its record on the season to 10-4-2 and 4-3-1 in the A-10.

Sunday's victory moved the men into a tie with Duquesne for fourth place in the conference standings.

Returning to the starting line-up for the first time since Oct. 9, junior goalkeeper Justin Marshall and the Xavier defense held the Charlotte 49ers scoreless for 90 minutes.

Marshall posted six saves in the game while the defense was credited with two stops.

The Musketeers, who were unable to score in regulation, were looking to beat Charlotte much like they did in last year's A-10 Conference Semifinals.

In the 99th minute, with only 25 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Charlotte scored the game-winning tally.

The shot deflected off a Xavier player and rolled into the net, securing the victory for the 49ers.

The Musketeers returned to the field on Sunday as they faced another stiff competitor in Saint Louis.

Unable to net any goals in regulation, the game went into double overtime.

The men avenged their overtime

loss on Friday by defeating the Billikens 1-0 in the 103rd minute of play.

The men's defeat of Saint Louis also marked the first back-to-back 10-win seasons for the men's soccer program since 1997 and 1998.

Junior Luke Spencer came off the bench to score his sixth goal of the season.

His strike from 25 yards out, his fifth shot of the game, found the back of the net and pushed Xavier over the 10-win plateau.

The defense played another strong game, aided by a blocked penalty kick from Marshall. With another shutout this season,

Marshall set a Xavier record,

notching his 14th career shutout.

The men return to the pitch for their final regular season game Saturday at Dayton.

Xavier will advance to the A-10 Conference Tournament if they finish in the top six in the conference standings.

Should the Musketeers make the tournament, they will look to win their second consecutive A-10 Tournament title.