Tag Archives: Temple Owls

Owls to face Penn State

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The men’s soccer team will travel upstate Friday to face off against Penn State, the No. 16 ranked team in the country, per the National Soccer Coaches Association of America coaches poll.

The Nittany Lions won the Big Ten Conference title last season and made it to the third round of NCAA tournament, before falling to New Mexico.  They have started the season with two victories, downing Oakland in their season opener, 1-0, and St. John’s by a tally of 3-0, both of which were wins at home.

Coach David MacWilliams said Penn State is solid defensively, and play in front of senior goalie in Andrew Wolverton, who was the 2013 Big Ten goalkeeper of the year last year.
MacWilliams added that a key going into Friday night will be starting and finishing the game strong.
“We need to make sure the first 10 or 15 minutes we get the butterflies out and are ready to play,” MacWilliams said.  “This year, Penn State has been a team that has scored a lot of goals in the second half … so we’ve got to be sure we’re ready to play 45 minutes the first half and 45 minutes the second half.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Jeffrey Field.
Steve Bohnel can be reached at steve.bohnel@temple.edu or on Twitter @SteveSportsGuy1.

Forde hired as Temple track & field coach

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Athletic communications confirmed Wednesday evening that Elvis Forde has been hired as Temple’s head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country programs, as well as the women’s indoor and outdoor track & field teams.

Forde spent the last 12 seasons as the Director of Track and Field for Illinois State University. The school opted not to renew Forde’s contract after the 2013-2014 season.

“We would like to thank Elvis for his dedication to our cross country and track and field teams,” Illinois State Director of Athletics Larry Lyons told WJBC Radio in Illinois. “While we have had some special individual performances during Elvis’ term, overall team results were not where we expect or need them to be.”

Forde will replace former coach Eric Mobley (2008-14), who resigned effective June 30.

“I am very excited to be selected to lead the Temple Track and Field/Cross Country programs,” Forde said, via press release. “I want to thank [athletic director Kevin Clark] along with [senior associate athletic director Joe Guinta]. Temple University is a highly-regarded academic institution and it has the potential to be a tremendous track program.”

“It also is in its second year in the highly competitive American Athletic Conference,” Forde added. “That combination should help attract quality student-athletes that will make for a successful program.”

Mobley’s six-year tenure as head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country and track & field programs was highlighted by his leading the women’s track & field team to its first-ever Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track and Field Championship title. Mobley also won A-10 Coach of the Year that season.

-Ed LeFurge

Early tournaments help lessen travel burden for volleyball

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With the volleyball season roughly a month away, the team will get ready to embark upon a series of weekend tournaments before the conference schedule begins Sep. 24 in Storrs against Conneticut.

Temple will play four tournaments before their American Athletic Conference opener, the first of which is the Syracuse tournament Aug. 30 and 31.  The following weekend, the Owls will host the Temple tournament before playing the Long Island University-Brooklyn and Big 5 tournaments during next two weekends, respectively.

Coach Bakeer Ganes said one thing in particular stands out in regard to his team’s starting the season with four consecutive tournaments.

“Travel,” Ganes, entering his fourth year as Temple volleyball coach in 2014, said. “It’s much easier on the student-athletes.”

With several long trips on the horizon once American Athletic Conference play kicks off, the Owls’ early fixtures in the region allow Ganes’ team a chance to play without the usual dose of wear and tear.  However, the early weekends involve three matches in two days, which can take its toll.

“It would be more ideal to play one match a day,” Ganes said, discussing the schedule’s opening portion.

However, the consistent play early on gives Ganes a chance to get a feel for what he has on the roster and the best way to utilize his players before facing American foes.

“We have four weekends to get ready for conference play,” Ganes said.  “It’s 12 matches, so we want to take advantage of ever match and figure out the best lineup and just take care of the fine-tuning.”

The Owls’ early schedule is similar to that of other schools in The American, though Ganes noted Central Florida hosted two tournaments before conference play started last season.

One may think a volleyball team playing three matches in two weekend days would cause fatigue issues. Ganes downplayed that potential concern, noting a deep roster helps him figure things out early in the season and avoid players becoming fatigued early.

“We try to have a good-sized squad so we can rotate kids through,” Ganes said. “It also allows us to find the best starting six we need when we start conference play.”

Thames finds suitor in Finland club

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Natasha Thames is heading overseas, it was announced Monday.

The recent Temple graduate signed with Finland’s Kotka Peli-Karhut, a team that ranked second in the SM-sarja last year, for the 2014-15 season.

Thames, a forward, averaged 10.3 points-per-game and a team-best 7.2 rebounds-per-game as a redshirt senior during a rough 2013-14 season for the Owls. She also shot 51.5 percent from field-goal range and 69 percent from the free-throw line, averaging 31.5 minutes on the court.

Her career numbers average 6.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 24.3 minutes-per-game, with a 47.7 percent field-goal percentage and a 56.8 percent free-throw percentage.

Thames led the team in blocks last season with 23, and set the Owls’ record for most games played with the team with 134, after starting all 30 games in her final year.

Highly touted recruit verbally commits to Owls

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Per his Twitter, four-star cornerback Kareem Ali Jr. verbally committed to Temple Saturday, marking what is perhaps Temple’s biggest verbal commit of the summer.

Per reports, the Sicklerville, N.J. native has plans to graduate Timber Creek high school in December and enroll at Temple in January. Ali is also slated to participate in spring ball next year.

The announcement of his orally committing dropped after Ali participated in coach Matt Rhule’s football camp Saturday. Ali decommitted from Maryland, with which he verbally committed last month, in favor of Temple’s program.

Rivals.com lists Ali as a four-star recruit and the No. 28 ranked cornerback in the nation. He is the No. 7 ranked CB in New Jersey and received an invitation to play in the 2015 U.S. Army All-American bowl.

Ali amassed 31 tackles, broke up five passes and registered one interception for Timber Creek high school in 2013. He is the second prospect to verbally commit to the Owls this week alongside Haddonfield wide receiver/cornerback Jake Robinson.

Heightened expectations surrounding men’s soccer

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Last year, men’s soccer exceeded expectations by finishing fourth in the inaugural season of the American Athletic Conference, despite being picked to finish last in an American coaches’ preseason poll.

This fall, coach Dave MacWilliams’ expectations are far greater.

“Our goal is to make the NCAA [tournament],” MacWilliams said.  “I’m going to be very disappointed if we don’t.”

The Owls finished 10-4-4 last season, primarily due to a defense that finished No. 10 in the nation in goals allowed per game (0.67).

Though Temple will lose two of its four regulars on the back line this year, MacWilliams feels that a strong recruiting class, ranked 19th in the nation via Collegesoccernews.com, will help fill some of those holes.

“With the recruiting class we have coming in, we feel pretty confident that these guys are going to play well,” MacWilliams said.  “How long will it take for them to meet the standards that we set?  That remains to be seen.”

MacWilliams added that the most concerning factor going into this season will be his team’s youth. 19 members of Temple’s squad are freshmen and sophomores, while the Owls feature just six seniors.

Because of Temple’s success last season, many teams, especially those in the conference, likely won’t take the Owls lightly in 2014.  It’s all part of MacWilliams’ plan for putting his program on the map.

“[Louisville and Connecticut] have a history behind them,” MacWilliams said.  “We didn’t have that history of upper echelon teams, and that’s what we’re trying to build here.”

O’Connor hires former colleague as assistant

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Former Chestnut Hill College men’s soccer coach Keith Cappo has been hired as women’s soccer assistant coach, per a Thursday press release.

Cappo ran Chestnut Hill’s men’s soccer program from 2010 to 2013, the first year in which he spent opposite Temple women’s soccer coach Seamus O’Connor, who led Chestnut Hill’s women’s team as head coach in 2010.

The two have a working history, as Cappo served under O’Connor as an assistant in the ’08 and ’09 seasons at Chestnut Hill, when O’Connor guided both the men’s and women’s programs as director of soccer. They also worked alongside each other when Chestnut Hill was still transitioning from NCAA Division III to Division II in 2008.

In 2010, Cappo served as O’Connor’s assistant  with Philadelphia Liberty FC, a West Chester, Pa. based member of the Women’s Premier Soccer League.

Prior to his tenure at Chestnut Hill, Cappo coached in various capacities at the high school level with Thomas Edison and Bishop Denis J. O’Connell in 2004 to 2006. He also coached with The Shipley School from 2006 to 2008.

As a player, Cappo started for William Penn Charter’s varsity team for three years before a four-year playing career at The Catholic University of America, for which he led as captain in his final two seasons.

Cappo will first see regular-season action with the Owls Aug. 22 when Temple opens the season on the road against Binghamton University.

Rick Brunson charged with attempted sexual assault, other charges

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Former Temple men’s basketball standout Rick Brunson was arrested for attempted criminal sexual assault in a Life Fitness on June 25 in Vernon Hills, Ill., a Chicago suburb nestled approximately 40 minutes northwest of the city.

Per a Vernon Hills police report, Brunson grabbed a female employee of the fitness center and was subsequently charged with attempted criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual abuse and three counts of aggravated battery. According to the report, Brunson was held on $5,000 bail.

Ironically, the arrest was dated on the same day as a report that Brunson was a leading candidate for an assistant coaching position with Temple for the 2014-15 season. According to that report, Brunson was set to be introduced for the position at some point in July.

Brunson played under former Owls coach John Chaney from 1991-95, and has since worked in some capacity with three NBA clubs after his retirement from the NBA in 2006.

His son, Jalen Brunson, is a senior at Stephenson High School and is a notable Temple target. ESPN lists the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder as its No. 1 rated point guard in the country for the class of 2015.

Former Owls star Rick Brunson to join staff as assistant

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The men’s basketball team will bring back former Owls standout Rick Brunson as an assistant coach, per a Philly.com report Wednesday.

Brunson starred with the Owls under former coach John Chaney in the 1990s and later played professionally for nine different NBA clubs in a nine-year span. He has coached as an assistant on both the college and NBA level, most recently with the Charlotte Bobcats for the 2012-13 season.

As per formal procedure, the job opening was posted on both the NCAA’s career website and Temple’s Human Resources site Tuesday, and should be officially filled within the next month.

NCAA rules limit teams to a maximum of three assistant coaches. As Brunson is set to take an on-bench assistant coaching position, one of the three current assistants will be reassigned.

Brunson expressed interest in the Owls’ head coaching job in the wake of Chaney’s retirement in 2006, fresh off his NBA career.

Brunson’s son, Jalen Brunson, will be a senior at Stevenson High this fall as the nation’s No. 1 point guard in the class of 2015. The 6-foot-1, lefty point man is rated as a five-star recruit by ESPN, and is a top Temple target while also considering Villanova, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue.

He was part of a Team USA squad that swiped the Gold Medal at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Americas Under-18 tournament on Tuesday night, averaging 12 points and 5.6 assists in five games.

Five Owls featured in Women’s National Championship, Janney coached Eagles to title

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Team USA Eagles, led by Owls coach Amanda Janney in her first year as a United States High Performance head coach, took the title at the 2014 Women’s National Championship in Lancaster via a 2-1 shootout win against USA Freedom.

Featuring five players from Temple’s 2013 roster, the championship doubled as a tryout for the 2014-15 U.S. Women’s National Team.

Rising redshirt junior Haley Mitchell was in goal for USA White, along with rising senior Lizzy Millen netminding for USA Freedom.

Forwards Amber Youtz (rising senior) and Katie Foran (rising sophomore) played for USA Courage, while graduate defender Molly Doyle also played for USA Freedom.

Graduate assistant coach Danica Deckard also competed for USA Blue, and Kelly Driscoll served as assistant coach under Janney for the Eagles.

Temple has 12 players on high performance teams this summer, with Doyle, Foran,  Millen, Alyssa Delp, Amanda Fuertsch, Paige Gross, Nicole Kroener, Ali Meszaros, Taylor Shronk and Rachel Steinman on the Pennsylvania High Performance Training Squad. Youtz and Mitchell are on the New Jersey Sqaud.

“We’re proud of our players for making the commitment to compete at the next level,” Janney said in a press release. “The high number of Temple players who made [High Performance] teams speaks volumes to this team’s dedication to improve. We want our players to dream about making the USA National team, and HP gives them the opportunity to tryout each year.”

The squad will be returning to Lancaster in the coming months to open up Temple’s 2014 campaign with the Conference Cup Tournament at the end of August.

-Nick Tricome