Dramatic end caps rejuvenating season for men’s soccer

The men’s soccer team’s season came to an end Friday in the Atlantic Ten Conference semifinals.
The Owls lost to the Dayton Flyers, 2-1, in overtime at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. The Cherry and White finished the season with a 10-5-4 overall record and 6-1-2 in A-10 play.

The Owls sent the game into overtime in the 71st minute on a shot by senior defender James Suevo, who connected with the back of the net and tied the game with his third goal of the season. Suevo’s goal was set up by junior forward J.T. Noone, who tallied his 13th assist on the season, increasing his school record.

In the overtime period, the Owls came out with intensity, as junior midfielder Francois Sagna recorded the first and final shot of the period for the Owls.

“We had a great opportunity in overtime to win it,” coach David MacWilliams said. However, the “shot was directly at the keeper. If he hits it left or right, we probably win the game.”

A Dayton corner kick led to an early scoring opportunity, as a header was stopped by the Owls’ goalie. However, later, on the following corner, Dayton’s Zach Weiss would find Florian DeCamps for the game-winning goal and his second of the day.

“I’m happy with the efforts but not happy with the end result,” MacWilliams said. “We wanted to and believed we could make the NCAA Tournament this year. It was a great accomplishment, but we tried to set the bar and standards higher.”

The Owls did this despite missing some starters.

Junior midfielder Matt Chevrollier and sophomore defenseman Brant Hovington were the starters who didn’t play in the contest, as Chevrollier was serving a one-game suspension and Hovington was out with an injury.

“I don’t think we played as well [as we could have],” MacWilliams said. “I think it was tough. We were missing two starters.”

Temple then lost a third player just seven minutes into the game. Sophomore defenseman Chas Chupein went down with a broken leg. Chupein was by the sideline when he was hit from behind.
MacWilliams called the play dirty and believed the play “should have been a red card, but [the referee] only gave a yellow card.”

The Owls, despite missing those aforementioned starters, still had a competitive first half, as they matched the Flyers in shots with eight. However, for Dayton, one of those shots went past Owls goalkeeper Bret Mollon.

“We knew they were a very big team,” MacWilliams said. “We knew we couldn’t give up a lot of restarts or corner kicks. It would be an issue for us.”

On a corner kick in the 24th minute, the Flyers’ Simeon Zapryanov passed toward the net, and DeCamps headed his eighth goal of the season to put Dayton ahead 1-0.

Even though the Cherry and White lost in the playoffs, the team had one of its best seasons in several years.

MacWilliams said he was pleased with how the season went. One of the reasons he believed the team did well this year was because it was able to find the back of the net twice as much as the previous year.

The Owls finished second in the A-10, an accomplishment that had not been done since 1990. To go along with the second-place finish, Temple posted its most wins since 2004, with 10.

“We are motivated for next year,” MacWilliams said. “We want to take it even further than we did this past year.”

Nick Hollenstein can be reached at n.hollenstein@temple.edu.

Four years later, men’s soccer team is playoff-bound

Going into the final game of the regular season Sunday, the only thing on the collective mind of the men’s soccer team was to win.

And they did exactly that.

With a 1-0 win over La Salle, the Owls improved their record to 10-4-4 overall and 6-1-2 in Atlantic Ten Conference play.

“I think we’re playing with a lot more confidence,” coach Dave MacWilliams said. “The guys stepped up and played well.”

With the win Sunday, the Owls finished second in the conference and earned a bye in the A-10 Tournament. The Tournament runs from Nov. 13 – 16 and is hosted by Duquesne in Pittsburgh. Temple will begin play on the second day of action.

The No.2-seeded Owls will face off with the highest remaining seed, in all likelihood either No. 3 Dayton or No. 4 Saint Louis.

Massachusetts and its 7-1-1 conference record took the top seed, with No. 5 Fordham and No.6 Rhode Island rounding out the playoff picture.

“The most important thing is that we get an extra day. We don’t have to play three games in four days,” MacWilliams said. “These guys have really played hard and battled, and we want to make sure we’re set for the playoffs.”

Junior forward J.T. Noone agrees with MacWilliams that the extra day of rest is important because “playing three games in four days [will] wear on your body. We’re in a very good position with the first-round bye,” he added.

The Owls got that bye with their win over the Explorers, as the game’s only goal came off the foot of Noone during a penalty shot.

“I knew if it went in,” Noone said, “that it would probably be the difference.”

Noone was selected to take the penalty shot after a battle inside the box between the two teams. Temple junior forward Mike Puppolo forced the foul, which resulted in a penalty shot against La Salle goalkeeper Kyle Quigley.

Not only did the goal from Noone win the game, but a collective team effort on defense helped seal the victory.

“I think La Salle played tremendous today, and I think they are a good team,” MacWilliams said. “But I think our guys are playing with a lot of confidence.”

Time after time when La Salle attacked, the Owls shut them down by blocking shots, deflecting passes and denying the Explorers several attempts to set up in the offensive zone.

“We played with a lot of intensity. It was really difficult,” Noone said. “La Salle came out and played us hard. We have to give it to them.”

A key contributor to the win was sophomore goalkeeper Brett Mollon. Tallying his ninth shutout of the season, Mollon turned away La Salle’s five shot attempts.

“I just knew that if we had to win this game, I had to put up a zero,” Mollon said.

Mollon’s biggest save of the day came about seven minutes into the second half. With La Salle on the attack and it looking as if the Explorers were going to tie the game, Mollon dove into the air and knocked down the shot.

The Owls erupted in a cheer of “great save.”

“When the whole team’s behind you, it’s a real confidence booster for the goalkeepers,” Mollon said. “It’s a great way to end the season. There is no reason we can’t go all the way.”

Nick Hollenstein can be reached at n.hollenstein@temple.edu.