Saint Louis slipup costs soccer

Despite upsetting No. 15 Charlotte, 2-1, Sunday, the men’s soccer team missed the playoffs.

The men’s soccer team (9-7-2 overall, 4-4-1 in Atlantic Ten Conference) defeated No. 15 Charlotte, 2-1, Sunday, in the regular-season finale.

Unfortunately for the Owls, the win against the 49ers (11-3-4 overall, 5-2-2 A-10) came too little too late, as Temple was eliminated from the A-10 Tournament Friday after its loss against Saint Louis. The Owls faced a must-win scenario for both games this weekend to even have a shot at a playoff berth.

“It’s nice that the guys played when we were knocked out of it on Friday,” coach David MacWilliams said. “For them to come with that passion was pretty good. Obviously, it’s bittersweet because I feel my team should be playing in the A-10 Tournament.”

Charlotte scored first, following a Cherry and White ceremony for the team’s seven seniors, but the Owls responded quickly with a goal from senior Francois Sagna. Senior J.T. Noone, Temple’s career leader in assists, nailed a clutch penalty kick prior to the end of the first half to put the Owls up for good.

Overall, Temple’s season mixed a little good with a little bad. Tough losses – shutouts actually – against William and Mary, Old Dominion, Duquesne, La Salle, Fordham and Saint Louis proved critical in deciding the fate of the season. One or two victories from those games could have changed the outcome of an otherwise competitive year.

“Well, I think if we take the whole season, there was only a couple weeks during the season that we struggled, and that was the key to our whole season,” MacWilliams said.

After those two tough weeks, the Owls managed to find their groove and pull off six consecutive wins, including against Albany, Siena and rival Saint Joseph’s, to put themselves back in contention for a possible postseason berth thanks to the offensive combination of sophomore Tyler Witmer and Noone.

“Both of those guys are great guys, great players, and I think they did an awesome job for us,” MacWilliams said.

Noone highlights the departure of seven seniors for the Owls. He will be accompanied by Bryant Hosler, Augustin Coly, Martin Dell’Arciprete, Mike Puppolo and Sagna. The departure of nearly one-third of the team leaves a huge hole, and MacWilliams said it will be “difficult to replace them.”

“You can’t replace J.T.,” MacWilliams said. “I think Marty did a great job. All the players did a great job for us.”

The team will return five juniors next season, including goalkeeper Bret Mollon.

MacWilliams said their consistency and a greater number of goals would be pivotal to the Owls’ 2010 season if they’re to have more success.

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu.

Shutout continues soccer’s winning streak

Saturday’s win closed out non-conference play. The Owls face Saint Joseph’s next.

Following a sporadic start to the season, the men’s soccer team hopes to gain some consistency entering the Atlantic Ten Conference portion of its schedule.

After a win against crosstown rival Villanova back on Sept. 4, the Owls proceeded to go 0-3-1 in their next four games. Fortunately for the Cherry and White, they managed to right the ship and entered Saturday’s matchup with the Siena Saints riding a three-game winning streak.

The Owls (5-3-1) kept their winning streak going with a 2-0 victory over the Saints (5-4-1). It wasn’t easy, however, as the Cherry and White had trouble in the first half. The Temple offense couldn’t find the back of the net, as the stout Siena defense played exceptionally well, coach Dave MacWilliams said.

“It was a defensive battle the first half,” MacWilliams said. “Siena kind of closed all the passing lanes in the center of the field and made it very difficult for us to penetrate.”

Temple had more success in the second half, as junior forward Austin Coly scored his second goal of the season off a pass from senior defender Martin Dell’Arciprete at the 48:24 mark.

“[Dell’Arciprete] got into the attacking zone and served the ball from the end line across, and Coly knocked the ball in and made a pretty difficult shot,” MacWilliams said.

While Coly’s goal would end up being enough for the Owls, sophomore Evan Bransdorfer took a pass from senior midfielder J.T. Noone and drilled it home. The assist was Noone’s sixth of the year and 24th of his career, further increasing his all-time lead in that category.

Junior goalkeeper Bret Mollon made sure that his teammates’ goals were not for naught, as he recorded his third shutout of the season and the 12th of his career. Mollon’s performance this season has been fairly reflective of how the team as a whole has played, MacWilliams said.

“Bret, the last few games, has been great,” MacWilliams said. “The first couple games, I think he did well. Then, along with the team, he hit a lull, and then I think he broke out of it the last few games and has played a lot better.”

While the Owls did suffer through a three-game losing streak earlier in the season, the team realized why it lost those games and has grown stronger because of it, MacWilliams said.

“We had one bad weekend where we went down to Virginia and just didn’t play well,” MacWilliams said. “We used that as a learning experience. We’ve actually benefited from those losses.”

Entering the A-10 schedule, MacWilliams said he is happy with his team’s performance but realizes there is still work to be done.

“I feel a lot more comfortable [with the team] than I did two weeks ago,” MacWilliams said. “However, we’ve given up way too many goals for my liking, and that’s something that going into the A-10 that you have to make sure you’re not doing. We’ve only given up one goal in the last three games, and I think that’s a positive we’ve got to continue.”

The Owls play their first three conference games on the road, traveling to Saint Joseph’s, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the upcoming weeks. Starting the A-10 schedule with three consecutive road games is something that doesn’t sit well with MacWilliams, but he’s not about to use it as an excuse.

“There’s been years where I’ve played five games on the road to start the A-10,” MacWilliams said. “It isn’t really fair. You really need to change the system where you can play one home and one away each week. I think that would be the best thing. But it is what it is, and we have to be able to deal with it.”

Temple’s next challenge comes in the form of the St. Joseph’s Hawks. The Owls will travel across the city on Saturday in both team’s A-10 opener.

Kyle Gauss can be reached at kyle.gauss@temple.edu.

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.

Silence Foul

A Temple student was shot Sunday, Nov. 2 on Ninth and Norris streets around 1 a.m..

The student, a senior marketing major and a defender for the soccer team, told Temple Police officers that three men approached him, one of whom shot him when he informed them he had nothing for the taking. The victim was taken to Temple Hospital and treated for a gunshot wound to the buttocks.

Following the incident, men’s soccer coach David MacWilliams and Larry Dougherty, the associate director of Athletics, declined to comment on the shooting. The student identified himself to The Temple News but refused an interview without permission from his coaches for fear of losing his scholarship.
The shooting appears in this week’s crime report, but it is listed only as assault. Campus Safety Services did not send out a TU-Advisory.

It is appalling that the university officials who are responsible for the well-being of our safety and our athletes have chosen not to act.

Although the shooting is still being investigated, the lack of comment from the soccer coach and associate athletic director suggests there is something to be covered up. A soccer player is injured with playoffs coming up this weekend, and his coaches have nothing to say about it. Even a statement wishing him well would have been better than nothing.

To make matters worse, the incident appears as an assault in the crime report compiled by Campus Safety Services. This choice of words downplays the shooting, putting it on the same level as a fist fight. CSS also failed to issue a TU-Advisory, the e-mail alert which warns students about potential threats on campus.

By entering the crime as an assault and neglecting to send an e-mail, Campus Safety Services is creating the false sense of security it aims to dispel. Students who feel safe walking home after a late night out will continue to do so if they aren’t aware a fellow classmate has been shot.

The crime report and TU-Advisory exist to keep students informed and neither is being used properly. It’s as if Temple is trying to brush the shooting off. It is understandable that CSS doesn’t want the incident to get blown out of proportion, but not addressing the shooting at all is unacceptable.

Similar incidents cannot be prevented if those who are most at risk are kept in the dark.

Postseason hopes fall on scoring duo

The men’s soccer team is coming down to its final stretch of regular season games, and the results have been much different than in recent years. Instead of ending its season early, the team is hoping for a high seed in the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament.

Goals haven’t come easy for the team the past few seasons, but this season has been different. Freshman forward Tyler Witmer currently leads the team in goals with six. His counterpart, junior forward J.T. Noone, has five. The striking duo has 11 of the team’s 21 goals.

In 2007, the team scored only 15 goals. With four games remaining, the forwards have an opportunity to score more goals as a pair than the entire team did last year.

Witmer is contributing significantly for a freshman. He was named Berks County Player of the Year last year as the senior captain at Conrad Weiser High School. He also was named to the All-County, All-State and Regional All-American teams. Witmer, who originally committed to Messiah College, decided to come to Temple because of the opportunity to play for a Division I team.

Witmer described the differences between high school soccer and college soccer as the physicality, pace of the game and quickness of the players.

So it’s a good thing he’s had some help getting adjusted to the style of play.

“J.T. Noone helps me out a lot because we pretty much play the same position,” Witmer said. “But the whole team has been very supportive to help me out so that I can help them out.”

Noone has been impressed with the play from the freshman.

“A lot he has brought to the team himself,” he said. “I try to tell him little bits of the game he can improve, but he is very talented as it is.”

Noone has been a significant player for the Cherry and White during his three seasons. He has started nearly every game since arriving and currently leads the team in assists. His eight assists are half the team’s total and best in the A-10. He leads the team in total points with 18.

Last year, he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Men’s Soccer Academic All-District 2 University Division Second Team with a 3.93 cumulative GPA.

“Anytime you can get named for anything on ESPN, it’s an honor,” Noone said.

The team is much improved since the start of Noone’s career at Temple, and he has been pleased with the results.

“Everyone is playing very well together and working hard for each other,” he said. “The results this year have been a lot different from the past couple years.”

Both men credited coach David MacWilliams as the big reason for the team’s turnaround.

“The competitive environment coach demands every day draws a lot out of our performance,” Noone said.

The pair has led the team to a 7-4-3 start and a 3-1-1 record in the conference. The ultimate goal for the team is to finish the season strong and make the A-10 Tournament. The final four games are all conference games and will determine what seed the Owls earn for the Tournament.
All four games are at home.

“Our season has been fun, but our main goal is to make the A-10 Tournament,” Witmer said. “If we win that, then we get a shot at the NCAA Tournament.”

A RAINY WEEKEND
The Owls defeated Saint Joseph’s on Saturday with a 2-0 win, and Noone was credited with an assist on the second goal. The assist was his second assist against the visiting Hawks.

The game turned out well for the Owls, but the weather was less than pleasant. The teams played through a heavy downpour and winds.

“It was awful to play in,” Noone said. “I even saw a couple small bits of snow coming through.”

Joe Serpico can be reached at gserpico@temple.edu.

Playoff push begins for fall squads

Expectations were high to start the season. Now, halfway through the fall schedule, reality has set in.
So, does that mean it’s time for an imminent playoff push or an extended winter break for your favorite teams? Let’s take a look:

Cross Country
The cross-country program continues to get its footing in the A-10. Urban cross country programs have historically had a difficult time finding success, but the Owls look to change that. The men’s team has made strides, finishing a program-best 11th in the A-10 Championship last year. The women’s team finished 13th, but looks to build on that foundation in 2008.
Prediction: Everyone gets to run in the A-10 Championship, but the Owls will remain toward the back for quite some time.

Field Hockey
It’s been a turbulent season for coach Amanda Janney. Early on, it was all too perfect, as the Owls went 3-0 and knocked off No. 14 Boston University. Since then, it has been a series of beatings from some of the country’s best. Ohio State and No. 11 Penn State posted back-to-back shutouts, and rivals Drexel and Delaware stole two games at Geasey Field. On Sunday, No. 8 Michigan State thumped Temple 9-0. It appears that the Owls’ non-conference schedule was overly ambitious. The good news is that A-10 play begins this week. Last year, the team went 6-1 in conference. Do the Owls have the firepower to get past No. 17 Massachusetts? Four years of playoff debauchery may continue.
Prediction: Another playoff bust: A-10 semifinals loss.

Men’s Soccer
It’s like The Little Engine That Could. The men’s soccer team continues to scrap and claw its way into the win column. Finally, there is some progress after two painful seasons at the Ambler Sports Complex. In 2006 and 2007, the team amounted to an overall record of 7-25-3 and plenty of frustration. The Cherry and White are currently 4-3-2 and about to embark on their A-10 schedule. Fortunately, heavyweights Saint Louis and Charlotte are off that schedule. The Owls have five straight home games to close the season, so the postseason isn’t out of consideration. In 2004, the team made it to the A-10 finals, but ultimately lost to George Washington.
Prediction: Only six teams get to dance, and 14 are jockeying for position. Another year of growth and this squad gets in.

Women’s Soccer
Much like its male counterparts, the women’s soccer team is kicking it up a notch. The Owls (2-6-3) look to improve upon their 5-10-4 season of a year ago, and it starts with their young guns. Freshman goalkeeper Courtney Douglas has assumed duties from sophomore Kara Williams. In her two starts, the Owls earned two ties, including a 0-0 shutout against Massachusetts. Freshman Niki Conn has been able to spark a notoriously anemic offense with four goals through 11 games. Playoffs might be too much for this squad right now. A step in the right direction would be a handful of conference wins on the road. Last season, the Owls went 0-5-1 in that department.
Prediction: No go on the postseason, but improved record from 2007.

Women’s Volleyball
Coach Bob Bertucci has done a remarkable job with this squad. The team is comprised mostly of underclassmen, but you wouldn’t know it. With an 11-7 record, they are a legitimate threat in the postseason. So far, they have dominated the Atlantic Ten Conference, posting a 4-1 record. Finding a replacement for outside hitter Yue Liu hasn’t been a problem, as junior Yun Yi Zhang has more than adequately fit the role. Zhang leads the conference in kills with 261 and total points with 291.5. If the Owls want the respect they deserve, they’ll need to cut down the conference’s traditional powerhouses. The West Division has a stranglehold on the crown, with Saint Louis winning in 2006 and Dayton from 2003-2005 and in 2007.
Prediction: The beasts of the east, but runners-up to the rest. Owls fall in a late-round game in the A-10 Championship.

Summary
Some Owls will get to taste the postseason, while others are far from it. Hey, there’s always next year.

Anthony Stipa can be reached at anthonystipa@temple.edu.

Overseas soccer talent flocks to Ambler

International students make up 2.69 percent of Temple’s undergraduate student body.

That’s 687 students once you do the math, and five of them play on the men’s soccer team.

Those five, who make up just about one-fifth of the 26-man team, come from Germany, France, Senegal, Nigeria and the Bahamas.

And one thing is for certain: they take their soccer – and education – seriously.

“I definitely think that the international guys take soccer more seriously than guys in America do,” said senior defender Mackenson Altidor, a native of the Bahamas. “While I want to continue playing soccer after I graduate, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll still get a degree, so it’s a win-win situation.”

Sophomore midfielder and forward Kenechukwu Nwanah, who hails from Nigeria, echoed those thoughts.
“I would love to play soccer here [after graduation],” he said. “It’s a dream I want to do, but just in case it doesn’t work out, that’s why I’m in school as an accounting major. It’s something I would actually like to take back to my home country. Before I came to Temple, I’d never even played organized soccer like this.”

That’s just one of the many differences Altidor, Nwanah and cousins Augustin Coly and Francois Sagna have adjusted to since they arrived in the United States.

“For me, it’s not that the U.S. has been different, because I’ve been in Oklahoma and Miami,” Altidor said. “It’s just been harder adjusting to the lifestyle in Philadelphia. It’s been crazy. It’s kind of a culture shock.”

“The hardest part for me was learning the language because English is not my first language,” said Sagna, a junior midfielder and France native. “Soccer is different in France than in America. Here it is about winning, but there it’s just about having fun.”

Junior forward Coly, who calls the country of Senegal his home, differs with his cousin on adapting to American culture.

“I’ve been missing my family, but I’ve enjoyed my time here,” Coly said. “I’ve learned the language way quicker and I’ve had a lot of opportunities come my way. It’s all been a lot of fun.”

Having fun is one thing all of the international soccer players interviewed wanted to get across – that, yes, they’ve had fun, but part of that enjoyment stems from feeling so comfortable on Temple’s campus, one that’s ranked No. 5 in diversity by the Princeton Review.

“First of all, I came to Temple because I came here with Augustin,” Sagna said. “But I also came because Temple is a good school for international students because of the diversity. You see all of these people from different countries on campus and you make a lot of friends.”

“I’m still missing the Bahamas, especially my parents and friends,” Altidor said. “And, of course, I miss going out on the beach every day in the nice weather. Here it’s not cold, it’s freezing.”

Yet, it seems that a little slice of home has managed to find its way to North Broad Street.

“Temple has a lot of variety,” Altidor said. “You’re surrounded by so many internationals, so many diverse people. It gives you a homey feeling.”

Jennifer Reardon can be reached at jennifer.reardon@temple.edu.