Former Temple great Sisk qualifies for U.S. Open, Matthews named as an alternate

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Geoff Sisk, a 1987 alum, finished in a three-way tie for first place in the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifier held at the Century Country Club and Old Oaks Country Club in Purchase, N.Y. on Monday afternoon and will be representing Temple in what will be Sisk’s seventh career U.S. Open.

Sisk shot a 68 in the opening round and a 69 in the second round, finishing with a four-under 137 to qualify for the Open Championship.
Despite shooting a four-under 67 in round two, Temple sophomore Brandon Matthews fell outside of the top four on the leaderboard, which will keep him from competing in the tournament. There is a glimmer of hope for the young phenom, though, as Matthews was was named as an alternate for the U.S. Open. He will be allowed to chip, putt and hit balls at the driving range next week in case a player withdraws.
The 2013 U.S. Open will be held at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. from June 10 to June 16.

Two Owls to compete in US Open Sectional Qualifier

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Temple freshman Brandon Matthews and 1987 Temple graduate Geoff Sisk will tee off at the Century Country Club and Old Oaks Country Club in Purchase, N.Y. with a chance to qualify for the 2013 U.S Open.

There are three spots remaining in the U.S. Open field, which will be held just a short commute away from North Broad Street at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. from June 10 to 16.

Matthews made several headlines throughout his terrific freshman campaign in 2012-13. The DuPont, Pa. native positioned himself as the Owls’ No. 1 golfer moving forward, finishing second in the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship.

Matthews also claimed All-Conference honors and nabbed the A-10 Rookie of the Year Award.

During his tenure at Temple, Sisk was a four-time honorable mention All-American and turned pro in 1988, one calendar year after earning his degree.

Sisk has played in six U.S. Opens, most recently in 2011. He will look to advance to his seventh after shooting a 68 to qualify for today’s round.

Harris cut by Tiger-Cats after two days

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Yep, it happens that fast.

Former Temple running back Montel Harris has been cut from the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Harris, who just signed with the Tiger-Cats two days ago, has now failed to latch on with three professional teams since playing his final collegiate game. He had failed tryouts with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League.

The Tiger-Cats have not released a statement saying that Harris has been cut, but he is no longer on the team’s roster page on the official website.

2013 men’s soccer schedule released

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Temple has announced the 2013 schedule for the men’s soccer team.

2013 marks the first season in the new American Athletic Conference. Temple will play eight conference matches, hosting Connecticut, South Florida, Memphis and Cincinnati and traveling to Louisville, Southern Methodist, Rutgers and Central Florida.

Temple went 10-6-3 in 2012, ending the regular season on a three-match win streak before falling to Virginia Commonwealth 1-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference playoffs.

The Owls will play 17 regular season matches in 2013, nine of which are at home at the Ambler Soccer Field on Temple’s Ambler Campus. They will play two exhibition games at home before the season starts against Lafayette and Iona.

Temple will face three city rivals during the season, traveling to St. Joseph’s on September 14, hosting Villanova on September 21 and heading to Drexel on October 5.

Despite having to travel 30 minutes to play a home match, the Owls have only scheduled three regular season match more than a two hour drive from Philadelphia. They head to Louisville on September 28 to battle the Cardinals, to Dallas on October 9 to face SMU and to Orlando on October 27 to play UCF.

2013 Men's Soccer Schedule

2013 Men’s Soccer Schedule (click for bigger view)

Brown reverses course, signs with Tampa Bay

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Temple has announced that former RB Matt Brown has signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League.

Brown, who agreed to sign with the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, was on his way to Saskatchewan to sign it on Tuesday when an expired passport prevented him from boarding the plane, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Brown was in the process of renewing his passport when the Bucs contacted his agent, expressing interest in signing him. Brown canceled his plans to go to Canada and flew to Tampa to sign an NFL contract.

“Brown owes his good fortune to an expired passport,” Temple said in a press release. “Otherwise, he would have already signed with the CFL.”

Brown’s contract saga is the opposite of fellow former RB Montel Harris. Harris, after trying out with the Bucs and the Philadelphia Eagles, signed a deal to play for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

In a four-year career, Brown, at 5 feet, 5 inches, racked up many honors and records. He was named the 2012 Big East Conference Special Teams Player of the Year, and was on the All-Big East first team as the return specialist. He holds school records for punt return average in a season (14.2 in 2012) and kick return yards in a single game (227 on November 3, 2012 against Louisville). He finished his career second in school history in all-purpose yards with 5,272, third in rushing touchdowns with 22 and fourth in 100+ yard rushing performances with 10.

Brown is one of six former Temple player to sign a rookie deal with a professional team this spring. The other five are Harris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), OL Martin Wallace (Cleveland Browns), DE John Youboty (Denver Broncos), DB Maurice Jones (Chicago Bears) and K/P Brandon McManus (Indianapolis Colts).

American Athletic Conference reveals logo

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The American Athletic Conference, Temple’s new conference, has revealed its official logo.

It was officially released on Thursday morning. Temple, along with nine other schools, will officially join the new conference on July 1.

“The elegant, athletic and classic letter A with the unique star inside and AMERICAN underneath was unanimously chosen by every institution,” commissioner Mike Aresco said. “We believe this bold mark and our series of ancillary marks will support our conference name and the values that our name represents.”

Harris signs with CFL’s Tiger-Cats

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After trying out with multiple NFL teams, former Temple running back Montel Harris has signed a contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.

Harris had tryouts with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles, not making either team. He becomes the second former Owl RB to sign a CFL deal this offseason, following Matt Brown, who signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week.

Harris spent four years at Boston College from 2008 to 2011, only fulfilling three years of eligibility due to a knee injury in his junior year. He transferred to Temple for his final year of eligibility after being dismissed from Boston College. In his one season at Temple, he rushed for 1,054 yards and 12 TDs with five 100+ yard games.

Brown is now the sixth former Owl to be under contract with a CFL team, along with Brown, QB Henry Burris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), RB Tim Brown (B.C. Lions), DL Elisha Joseph (Calgary Stampeders) and LB Dominique Harris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats).

Men’s soccer adds 11 athletes to roster

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This morning, Temple men’s soccer head coach David MacWilliams announced his additions to the 2013 roster. In total, the 13-year-coach is bringing in eight freshman and three transfers, resulting in a team that will feature 11 new student-athletes this fall for their first season in the American Athletic Conference.

Freshmen Alexander Cagle, Mark Grasela, Steffan Mueller, Matt Mahoney, Miguel Polley, Robert Sagel, Vojkan Tomasevic and Dan White are among those joining the Owls, along with transfers Donovan Fraser, Jonah Williams and Anani Mohammed.

Fraser, a medical redshirt from the University of Maryland, was a two-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America High School All-American, and won the Suffolk League IV Championship all four years of his high school career. Cagle, a sex-foot-four goalkeeper was named to the Second Team All-Conference in his junior year at Brookfield East High School, when he posted a 0.366 goals against average for the season.

“I’m very excited about these prospects and the level of talent they bring to Temple,” MacWilliams said in a press release. “I really believe this i the best incoming class that I’ve had in my 13 years here and that’s no disrespect to any of the previous classes. This group of guys gives us an opportunity to compete in the American Athletic Conference immediately.”

Pair of athletes receive regional honors

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Paige O’Sullivan

Although her four-year stint with the women’s rowing team is now complete, newly graduated Paige O’Sullivan continues to be recognized as an outstanding student-athlete. Temple announced yesterday that O’Sullivan was named to the second team all-Mid-Atlantic Region by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association, just a few weeks after the Somers Point, N.J. native was awarded first team A-10 All-Conference.

O’Sullivan, who recently received her bachelor’s degree in Therapeutic Recreation, was also the winner of the 2013 John Noisette Award—One that is presented to a Temple student each year for leadership and innovation in the therapeutic recreation field.

Additionally, last month, O’Sullivan was honored with the Temple Teammates Community Service Award for the second straight year at the university’s Breakfast of Champions.

Brandon Matthews

Freshman Brandon Matthews has been named as one of the 25 golfers selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America to be a part of the NCAA Division I PING all-Northeast Region team.

In what turned out to be a stellar rookie season with Temple, Matthews’ 72.27 stroke average was the lowest among all Atlantic 10 Conference golfers. He placed second at the A-10 Championship, earning All-Conference honors in addition to being recognized as A-10 Rookie of the Year.

 

Intramural coordinator honored at banquet

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Ray DeStephanis, who has served as the intramural coordinator of Temple since 2002, was honored by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame at the organization’s 66th annual banquet.

DeStephanis, a graduate Temple, received the Chick Fallon Award for Service to Soccer. In addition to overseeing the many intramural programs offered by Temple, DeStephanis is currently in his seventh year as head coach of the varsity soccer team at Roman Catholic High School. SEPA Hall of Fame Vice President described DeStephanis as part of the fabric that makes up the regional soccer community.

“Not everybody gets to read the daily paper,” DeStephanis said upon accepting the award. “But we all read emails at work, at home and on our phones. If in some way a simple email with game results, standings and info helps to keep everyone informed, then I feel I am helping the entire soccer community. Soccer has been good to me. It’s only fair that I’m good to the sport in return.”