Category Archives: Men’s Soccer

VCU stuns men’s soccer, ends season

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In a first round match-up of the Atlantic 10 Conference playoffs against No. 19 Virginia Commonwealth University, the men’s soccer team was able to keep the Rams’ potent offense off the board until the final minute of the game, but the Owls’ effort wasn’t enough.

With 44 seconds remaining in the game, VCU sophomore midfielder Mario Herrera Meraz stunned the Owls with a game-winning goal, ending Temple’s season.

Sophomore goalie Dan Scheck received his fourth straight start in the opening round. Though VCU controlled the ball for much of the game, Scheck helped eliminate any offensive opportunity until the game’s final minute. After Meraz’s goal, a defeated Scheck pounded the turf in frustration.

While it was Meraz who led the Rams in shots, forward Jason Johnson gave the Owls fits all night. Johnson, fresh off his newly acquired Atlantic 10 Conference Offensive Player of the Year award, drew special attention from Temple’s defense throughout all 90 minutes of the opener.

About midway through the second half, Johnson went down in a heap following a VCU corner kick. After being helped off the field, Johnson was immediately substituted back into the game. No foul was called.

The Owls, who struggled offensively all night, mustered very few shots. Senior midfielder Cody Calafiore led Temple in shots with three, one of which landed on net.

The first half was back and forth for both squads, with neither team having any significant scoring chances. The second half was a different story, however. VCU heavily controlled possession of the ball, not allowing Temple to get anything remotely going on offense. As the clock dwindled down to the final minutes of regulation, the Rams picked up the tempo, making it clear they had no intention of going to overtime with the underdog Owls.

VCU’s senior goalie Clark Hankins pushed the ball up field, setting his squad in motion to notch the game-winner. Hankins needed only two saves to record the shutout.

Temple coach Dave MacWilliams and players weren’t made available for comment following the loss.

With the loss, the Owls 2012 season is officially in the books. This years A-10 tournament features three nationally ranked squads, and another that was just recently ousted from the Top 25. Temple’s struggle to beat above .500 teams continued beyond the regular season.

-Tyler Sablich

Three Owls earn honors for men’s soccer

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Roughly 24 hours before the men’s soccer team’s first round Atlantic 10 Conference tournament commences, three Owls have earned conference honors.

Freshman midfielder Jared Martinelli was named A-10 Conference Rookie of the Year and made the All-Rookie Team. Martinelli’s 28 points this year ranks 8th all-time in a season for Temple. He is Temple’s first A-10 Rookie of the Year since Chris Cotton won in 1990. With nine goals and 10 assists, Martinelli is one goal away from becoming Temple’s first 10-goal/10-assist scorer in program history.

Other postseason awards amassed by Temple came in the form of senior midfielder Cody Calafiore and junior midfielder Vaughn Spurrier.

Calafiore has been tabbed to the All-Conference second team. Back in 2010, he was named to the All-Conference first team. In 2012, Calafiore ranks second on the team in points with 14 – four goals and six assists.

Spurrier has been named to the A-10 All-Academic team for the first time in his collegiate career after amounting a 3.65 grade point average in biophysics. He and Martinelli have combined for the most assists in a single season in Temple history with 20 helpers.

Fresh off their newly announced achievements, the Owls will face No. 19 Virginia Commonwealth University Thursday at 5 p.m. in Charlotte, N.C. in the first round of the A-10 Tournament. Temple will have a tough task containing junior forward Jason Johnson. Johnson was named A-10 Offensive Player of the Year after totaling 32 points — 13 goals and six assists.

-Tyler Sablich

Men’s soccer hosts final regular season game

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The men’s soccer team’s regular season finale against St. Joseph’s University will be looked at to gain momentum and confidence heading into the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament next weekend.

“You want to keep moving forward and you want to keep winning games,” coach Dave MacWilliams said. “We know it’s going to be a tough game, but we’ve talked to the guys and we know they’re ready for it.”

The Owls, who are currently 9-5-3 with an in-conference record of 5-1-2, will honor their four seniors before tomorrow’s match-up. Midfielders Cody Calafiore, Homero Rodriquez and Andrew Dodds, along with defender Billy Kappock, will be sent off properly in their final regular season game as Owls.

“The toughest thing for me as a coach is that you develop relationships with four quality young men,” MacWilliams said. “All of a sudden it’s over, and it goes quick. I keep preaching that four years of college really go quick, so you want to try and make the best of it.”

Temple currently ranks fourth in the A-10. If play had ended today, the Owls would be taking on No. 17 Xavier in the first round of the tournament. But first, MacWilliams has his focus set on tomorrow’s City 6 match.

“I watched [St. Joe’s] play and they’re a pretty competitive team,” MacWilliams said. “Although they haven’t gotten the results, they’ve played some quality soccer.”

Tomorrow’s finale against the Hawks, who are ranked dead last in the A-10, will begin at 1 p.m.

-Tyler Sablich

Men’s soccer gears up for final road weekend

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Coming off disappointing outings against Butler and Saint Louis, the men’s soccer team’s schedule doesn’t get any easier this weekend.

Temple has road matches against Atlantic 10 Conference rivals Fordham Friday and La Salle Sunday.

Both team’s feature top-notch goalies. Fordham’s sophomore goalkeeper Sean Brailey has posted a .833 save percentage, while La Salle’s junior goalkeeper John McCarthy has recorded a .857 save percentage. McCarthy is ranked No. 4 in the nation in that category.

“We know they’re going to be very close games,” coach Dave MacWilliams said. “I think the key is getting on the board early against these teams. I think because of their goalies and the way these teams play, the first goal is going to very important. We have to opportunistic in the box and when we get chances we need to bury them.”

Last weekend, the Owls match against Butler ended in a double-overtime draw after they led the Bulldogs 3-0 with 15 minutes left in regulation. Temple became lax and their sub-par efforts came back to devastate them. Sunday against Saint Louis, Temple was outplayed in every aspect by the nationally ranked Billikens, losing 3-1.

MacWilliams said he was disappointed in the way his team played and that he would have been satisfied coming away with one win and one loss.

“The positive side is that we only have one loss in the conference,” MacWilliams said. “It was a lesson learned for us, we want to learn from our mistakes. I think Friday’s game took a lot out of us physically and mentally. We can’t let what happened [last weekend] hurt us moving forward.”

With three games remaining in the regular season, Temple is 7-5-3 overall and 3-1-2 in A-10 play. They lost to Fordham last season 1-0 in overtime.

The Rams are 5-5-3 overall and 1-2-2 in conference play in 2012. La Salle is 8-5-2 with an in-conference record of 2-3.

Friday’s road match against Fordham will begin at 7 p.m.

-Tyler Sablich

Men’s soccer hosts No. 23 Saint Louis

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The men’s soccer team will face its most difficult test thus far in 2012 Sunday afternoon in Ambler.

No. 23 St. Louis comes in with a 10-3 overall record and a conference record of 4-1. Temple is coming off a 3-3 draw that it should have won. Butler stormed back with three goals in the final 15 minutes of regulation thanks to a lackadaisical Temple approach. Coach Dave MacWilliams said the Owls were “patting themselves on the back” after they scored their third goal.

“We can’t turn back. It’s over and done with,” MacWilliams said. “We just gotta focus on what’s ahead of us. We can’t change what happened. It’s in the record books and we gotta move forward.”

St. Louis is coming off four consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference victories. Their only conference loss came against No. 13 Xavier.

The Billikens’ potent attack is led by sophomore forward Robbie Kristo and junior midfielder Alex Sweetin, who have 28 points between them.

After Friday’s disappointing outcome, the Owls look to bounce back and remain unbeaten at home, where they are 5-0-1. They are 7-4-3 overall and 3-0-2 in A-10 play. St. Louis is 3-2 on the road, but one of those losses were against a very solid Xavier team.

Sunday’s match will get started at 1 p.m. at the Ambler Sports Complex.

Men’s soccer sets to defend first place

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The men’s soccer team will face an unfamiliar Atlantic 10 Conference opponent Friday afternoon.

After leaving the Horizon League at the end of the 2011 season, Butler will face Temple for the first time as conference rivals.

Although the Bulldogs will bring a 3-6-4 overall record and a 1-3 conference record into Ambler, coach Dave MacWilliams believes Butler is a much better team than the standings indicate.

“We know they’re a very tough team,” MacWilliams said. “We have scouts on them and we see it in game film. They’ve played a very hard schedule. I’ve been telling my players all week that we shouldn’t look at their wins and losses because they’ve played a much harder schedule.”

MacWilliams seems to be right on point with that. In fact, the teams that Temple has beaten this year (Manhattan, St. Peter’s, Howard, Rider, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, and UMass) are a combined 20-66-5. Although they’ve certainly succeeded in beating inferior teams, they’re inability to beat more formidable opponents remains troubling.

“We’ve talked about it,” MacWilliams said. “We have to beat teams that have a higher winning record. I presented that challenged to the guy’s this weekend because we’re facing two of the top teams in the A-10.”

With Friday’s game against Butler and Sunday’s match-up against No. 23 St. Louis, MacWilliams believes an upcoming weekend of tough soccer will give a good indication of where the Owls are as a team.

“We’ll know at the end of the weekend where we stand,” MacWilliams said. “It’s going to be a measuring stick for all of us.”

Temple is currently in sole possession of first place in the A-10 with an overall record of 7-4-1 and a conference record of 3-0.

The game against Butler will get started at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Ambler Sports Complex.

-Tyler Sablich

Men’s soccer squares off with Duqesne

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After beating St. Bonaventure in an overtime thriller Friday afternoon, the men’s soccer team has shifted it’s focus to Sunday’s Atlantic 10 Conference matchup against Duquesne.

The Dukes (4-7) travel to Ambler Campus after beating A-10 rival St. Joseph’s Friday in Philadelphia. Temple (5-4-1) is also coming off it’s first conference victory of 2012.

The hero in that game, junior defender Jake Lister, knows exactly what to expect from Duquesne.

“Duquesne is always a tough team to play. I have a few buddies on the team,” Lister said. “They’re a really, really physical team, and we’re just going to give them all we got.”

The Dukes got the best of the Owls when these two teams met last season. Then-junior forward Joshua Patterson scored both goals for Duquesne, defeating Temple 2-0.

Coach David MacWilliams says that the schedule has not done his team any favors. He gave the team off on Saturday in anticipation of another grueling A-10 match Sunday.

“We’re just trying to get some rest so we can turn it around for Sunday,” MacWilliams said. “They’re a very athletic team, particularly up front. They’ve got some pace. It’s going to be a battle for us.”

Sunday’s match against Duquesne will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Ambler Sports Complex.

-Tyler Sablich

Men’s soccer begins A-10 play

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The men’s soccer team is set to begin Atlantic 10 Conference play this weekend, taking on conference rivals St. Bonaventure and Duquesne at the Ambler Sports Complex.

The Owls have had great success against teams that are below .500. The four teams they have beaten (Manhattan, St. Peter’s, Howard and Rider) are a combined 3-33-1. They’ve lost to tough teams in Virginia Tech, Cal Poly-Tech, Cal State-Northridge and Villanova. The Owls carry a 4-4-1 record into A-10 play.

Temple may be in luck tomorrow against the Bonnies, who are entering conference play 2-8 on the season. The Bonnies, who are 0-5 on the road, head to Ambler to take on a Temple team that is 3-0 on their home turf.

The Owls are 3-0 against the Bonnies in their last three meetings. Junior defender Nolan Hemmer scored the game-winner last season, beating them by a score of 2-1. Temple will look to win back-to-back games for the second time this season.

A-10 play gets underway Friday at 2:30 p.m. against the Bonnies at Ambler.

-Tyler Sablich

Men’s soccer travels to Rider

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The men’s soccer team’s pursuit of a .500 record has gone back and forth. Tonight they will look to get back to that mark against winless Rider.

“[Rider] has struggled this year,” coach David MacWilliams said. “But we have to get back to playing the way we’re capable of.”

After starting out the season 1-1-1, the Owls dropped their next two games before winning back-to-back games. Their record stood at 3-3-1 before losing 1-0 to City 6 rival Villanova.

Perhaps the most alarming statistic is Temple’s inability to beat tough teams. The clubs that the Owls have beaten this year (Manhattan, St. Peter’s, and Howard) are a combined 2-23-1. The rest of Temple’s opponents are 27-16-2. Rider (0-7) resembles the type a team the Owls have had success against in 2012.

“We’re going up the their facility to take on a wounded animal, so to speak,” MacWilliams said.

Rider has been shutout three times so far in 2012. They’ve tallied just five goals in seven games. Last weekend against Penn they surrendered seven goals. The Rider roster features 12 freshmen.

The Owls will have a week off following tonight’s matchup. Atlantic 10 Conference play will get underway next Friday against St. Bonaventure, followed by Duquesne on Sunday.

Tonight’s game against Rider begins at 7 p.m. in Lawrenceville, N.J.

-Tyler Sablich

Martinelli earns back-to-back rookie honors

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Freshman midfielder Jared Martinelli was named the Atlantic 10 Conference and Philadelphia Soccer Six Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week.

Martinelli scored six points in games against Saint Peter’s and Howard last weekend with a pair of goals and assists. He scored five points in the previous week.

“We knew when we recruited [Martinelli] we knew he was a special player,” coach David MacWilliams said. “He’s been every bit of what we expected and more.”

“Contributing in such a big way has been unexpected,” Martinelli said. “Coming in I just wanted to start and be productive on the field.”

Martinelli has helped Temple (3-3-1) win two games in a row to climb back to .500 after losing two games in a row.

-Joey Cranney and Tyler Sablich