Kixx soccer finds new home at Liacouras

The Philadelphia Kixx soccer team, left without a home venue after the Wachovia Spectrum closed its doors, relocated its turf to the Liacouras Center.

The Liacouras Center has seen a lot of exciting sports drama in its 12 years of operation, thanks largely to Temple’s men’s and women’s basketball programs.

But a new chapter in the Liacouras Center legacy began recently when the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Philadelphia Kixx played their inaugural home game there Jan. 9 against the Rockford, Ill. Rampage. They christened their new home that night with a 23-20 victory, and went on to beat Rockford again the following night in Illinois.

The Kixx’s move to North Broad Street began last summer when Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snyder announced that the Wachovia Spectrum, known for decades as “America’s Showplace,” would be demolished to make way for a shopping and entertainment complex called Philly Live.

The Spectrum was home to the Kixx as well as the American Hockey League’s Philadelphia Phantoms. When it closed, both teams were put out in the cold. The Phantoms moved to New York and became the Adirondack Phantoms, while the Kixx looked slightly less far north for a new place to play. They settled on the Liacouras Center, managed by Global Spectrum, a subsidiary of Comcast-Spectacor.

While the Liacouras Center is no Wachovia Spectrum, the building is carving out its own niche in North Philly. Since opening in 1998 as the Apollo of Temple, the 10,200-seat arena hosted big-name concerts by artists ranging from Bob Dylan to Patti LaBelle and Kanye West to Kelly Clarkson, as well as Temple athletic events.

The Liacouras Center also hosted U.S. gymnastic competitions and a game of Wheel of Fortune.

“I think it’s great,” senior education major Candice Roe said of the Liacouras Center hosting high-profile events in Temple’s backyard. “As long as it doesn’t cost Temple a bunch of money or add to tuition.”

Temple Associate Vice President of Business Services Richard Rumer is in charge of the day-to-day operations and overall management of certain areas of the university, including the Liacouras Center.

He said that the deal with the Kixx is a good thing for Temple and its community. The Kixx, he assured, pay rent like any other event would, and the eight additional games the team’s presence brings to the arena’s calendar translates to more jobs for students and local residents.

J.T. Noone, a former Temple soccer player who recently began spring training with the Philadelphia Union, the area’s first Major League Soccer team that will play in Chester, said in a phone interview that he thinks the move would be positive for Temple, but even better for the Kixx.

The Kixx’s move also presents Temple students with the opportunity to see fast-paced professional soccer at an arena across the street, while the trip to Chester to see the Philadelphia Union play is about a half hour by car.

Tickets for Kixx games generally cost about $20, but with students’ Owl Cards, admissions will be $9, Chief Financial Officer Darceé Roberts said.

Additionally, tickets stubs to games the Kixx win are redeemable for free burritos at Qdoba.
Some students, like Ankit Vaishya, said they are not sure what to expect.

“I’m a big soccer fan, and I’m used to watching professional Euro pean soccer,” Vaishya, a senior finance major, said. “I don’t know about this indoor stuff.”

An indoor soccer field is set up similar to a hockey rink, with “dasher boards” and Plexiglas separating the crowd from the field. The game is played in 15-minute quarters. With no out-of-bounds, play is fast-paced and more continuous than outdoor soccer. Teams can substitute players at any time, and like hockey, penalties can result in one team having a 2-minute power play. The most striking difference is the addition of multi-point goals. Shots made from different places on the field earn different amounts of points.

The next Kixx home game is Feb. 6 against the Milwaukee Wave.

Michael Polinsky can be reached at michael.polinsky@temple.edu.

Freshmen nab spotlight on soccer’s Senior Day

Freshman forward Kate Yurkovic scored the only goal in the women’s soccer team’s 1-0 win. Freshman goalkeeper Gillian Kacsuta saved eight shots.

Forty-seven seconds after the women’s soccer team passed the 85-minute mark of its game against Saint Louis Sunday, Owls’ freshman forward Kate Yurkovic scored the first – and only – goal of the game and her third of the season off an assist from freshman midfielder Jackie Krostek. Yurkovic’s game-winning score was the first of her collegiate career.

Coach David Jones said he sees the impact of these two young players as “very positive moving forward.”

With the 1-0 win, Temple ended its three-game losing streak. The Owls improve to 6-11-1 overall and 2-8 in the Atlantic Ten Conference. They are assured of finishing the season with a winning record of 5-3 at home this season even after dropping a 5-0 game on Oct. 23 to No. 25 Charlotte.

Tough defense by both teams characterized the game. Within the first 10 minutes of action, each team took three shots, two on goal, but neither came away with a score. By the 20-minute mark, the Billikens had doubled the Owls’ shots, eight to four, but only four of St. Louis’ shots were on goal compared to three-of-four for Temple.

At the end of the first half, St. Louis had attempted 11 shots, though only five were on goal. St. Louis senior midfielder Kristen Sapienza led the charge, taking five shots and playing the entire half, but she was unable to score on the Owls’ solid defense. Temple freshman goalkeeper Gillian Kacsuta notched five first-half saves to anchor the defensive effort.

The second half started off in similar fashion. The Owls did not attempt a shot for the first 15 minutes of the half. At the 85-minute mark, with the score still knotted at 0-0, it became apparent that regulation may not be enough time to decide an outcome in this A-10 matchup.

Then, Yurkovic scored, and the defense held.

“I thought we did a great job [defensively],” Jones said. “We haven’t had a shutout in a few weeks. I thought everybody really fought hard. We dug down, bunkered in and really got the job done keeping them off the scoreboard [St. Louis averages 1.31 goals per game on the season].”

Kacsuta recorded her second shutout this season and second of her short career. She set a new season and career high in saves with eight, while improving her personal record to 6-1-1 on the season.

While Kacsuta, Yurkovic and Krostek are wrapping up their first seasons with the team, defender/midfielder Carly Metzger celebrated Senior Day.

“Obviously, we only have one senior, and I think we’re going to miss Carly,” Jones said.

The Owls play at Saint Joseph’s on Halloween night to conclude the regular season.

Jones said the Owls entered the St. Louis game with a goal of winning their final two A-10 games.
“We did the first part of it today,” he added. “St. Joseph’s is a big battle, and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got to try and come out with a victory.”

Raymond Boyd can be reached at raymond.boyd@temple.edu.

Hanging onto playoff hopes

The men’s soccer team traded shutouts during the weekend, defeating St. Bonaventure, 1-0, while losing 1-0 to Duquesne. The Owls currently hold the sixth, and last, Atlantic Ten Conference playoff spot.

With an inconsistent performance over the weekend, senior midfielder J.T. Noone and the men’s soccer team made their pursuit of an Atlantic Ten Conference playoff berth that much harder.

Entering the weekend, the Owls had gone on the road for their first three conference games, defeating Saint Joseph’s and Massachusetts before losing to Rhode Island, 4-1, on Oct. 18. Considering the Owls only play four conference home games all year, this weekend was of the utmost importance, Temple coach David MacWilliams said.

“You’ve got to win your home games,” MacWilliams said. “When you don’t win your home games, those are the teams that find themselves out of the playoffs.”

On Friday, the Owls faced off against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. Temple’s lone goal came off the foot of senior forward Augustin Coly, who took a pass from freshman midfielder Homero Rodriguez at the 56:23 mark and drilled the ball into the back of the net. Ultimately, that one goal was enough, as junior goalkeeper Bret Mollon recorded his fifth shutout of the season and secured a 1-0 victory.

“Bret’s played well this year,” MacWilliams said. “On Friday, he won the game for us.”

The success stopped there for the Owls. They returned to the Ambler Sports Complex on Sunday to face the Duquesne Dukes, a team fresh off a 4-0 victory against St. Joe’s.

After playing the Dukes to a standstill for the majority of the game, the Owls let their guard down in the final minute, and Duquesne freshman forward Joshua Patterson made them pay for it. Patterson took a pass from senior defenseman Alex Trujillo at the 89:43 mark and arched his shot over the outstretched arms of Mollon. The Dukes scored the lone goal of the game. The 1-0 loss left an extra sour taste in the mouths of the Owls, as the Dukes entered the game fighting for a playoff spot.

Noone said that while the loss was obviously a devastating one, the Owls did manage to do many things well, primarily on defense.

“At times, we knocked the ball well,” Noone said. “I think we defended well. We just let our guard down for a minute, and in this league, you get punished for that.”

In the end, though, the Owls simply could not find the back of the net on offense. MacWilliams attributed that to one fairly simple reason.

“We didn’t get enough runners in the box,” MacWilliams said. “We can control the ball, and when the winger serves it, we need to have runners in the box.”

With the weekend split, the Owls find themselves with nine points in the A-10 standings, good for sixth in the conference. The top six teams make the playoffs, but there are still games to be played, and the Owls have put themselves in a situation that allows for little error.

“The split doesn’t help us,” MacWilliams said. “[The loss to Duquesne] is a very disappointing loss.”

The Cherry and White have a tough week coming up, as the team travels across town to face the La Salle Explorers before heading north to face the conference-leading Fordham Rams.

“All the A-10 games are tough,” MacWilliams said. “Those are only winnable games if we put our all into it.”

“Fordham is a big one for us. They’re doing well in the league,” Noone added. “La Salle, too. I think they’re a good team, so this’ll be a tough week for us.”

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

Duo are go-to guys for goals

After finishing second in the Atlantic Ten Conference last season, midfielders J.T. Noone and Tyler Witmer look to defy sixth-place predictions.

Despite posting the second-best record in the Atlantic Ten Conference last year, senior midfielder J.T. Noone and the men’s soccer team enter the 2009 season facing skepticism from the rest of the league.
In a recent poll of A-10 coaches, the Owls were predicted to finish sixth in the conference, with the Dayton Flyers pegged to repeat as champions.

The Owls return one of the best one-two punches in the conference in the form of Noone and sophomore midfielder Tyler Witmer. The duo accounted for 43 points last year, nearly half of the Owls’ total offense.

“I talked to Tyler and J.T. before the season, and I told them that it’s very important that they repeat what they did last year,” coach Dave MacWilliams said. “Any drop-off from that, and it’s going to hurt us. For us to be successful, those two have to constantly be on the scoresheet.”

Noone, who tied Temple’s all-time assist record in Friday’s game against Villanova, enters the season with an abundance of hype surrounding him. Following a season in which he scored seven goals to go along with 12 assists, Noone was named to the First-Team All A-10 squad, along with earning a selection to the 2008 National Soccer Coaches Association of America Second-Team All-America squad. In July, College Soccer News named Noone to its preseason Second-Team All-American squad.

Repeating that success will not be easy for Noone, as opposing teams are likely to game-plan around him, MacWilliams said.

“J.T. is going to be man-marked, double-teamed,” MacWilliams said. “If they are double-teaming him, it means somebody else is open. It’s something we have to work on and something J.T.’s going to have to expect game after game.”

Noone wasn’t the only Owl to receive accolades last year, as Witmer found himself on both the Second-Team A-10 and First-Team All-Freshman squads following the season. By scoring eight goals, good for fifth in the conference, Witmer provided a consistent scoring threat for Noone to look for.

“He’s a scorer, a natural finisher,” Noone said. “He’s going to score a lot of goals this year, and that’s exactly what we need.”

Senior midfielder Martin Dell’Arciprete and junior midfielders Jared Harris and Max Kinderwater also expect to play crucial roles in the Cherry and White’s offense this year.

In back, senior defender Brant Hovington was expected to return after starting 17 games last year before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, leaving a huge hole in a defense that was already depleted from the graduation of James Suevo. Freshman defender Billy Kappock stepped up to help fill Hovington’s role, but it’s going to take a group effort, MacWilliams said.

“Billy’s still young. He’s going to learn. He’s going to get better as the year goes on,” MacWilliams said. “We also have Bryan Keller, who can also come in. Both Chas Chupein and Billy have done a pretty good job so far.”

In the net, senior goalkeeper Bret Mollon returns after a successful debut season for the Owls. Mollon, who originally played for Oakland University, started every game last year, finishing with a 10-5-4 record, while posting a Temple season record nine shutouts.

The Cherry and White are used to playing the role of underdogs, as last year was the first year the team made the A-10 tournament since 2004. By returning eight of 11 starters from last year’s squad, the Owls said they feel they have the experience and depth to make another run.

“We’re capable of [competing for a title],” MacWilliams said. “It all comes down to how we mesh. If we can do that, then I’m confident we can compete.”

“We’re returning a lot of guys this year, and a lot of us are still hungry,” Noone added. “We have some unfinished business to take care of. I know I do.”

After starting the season 2-0-1, following a victory over Villanova and a tie with Lafayette, the Owls look to build on that record this weekend in the Stihl Soccer Classic in Norfolk, Va.

Kyle Gauss can be reached at kylegauss@temple.edu.

Hunting for some goals

If anything stood out about the men’s soccer team last season, it was its inability to score.

Behind an offense that only produced 15 goals in 18 matches, the Owls sputtered to a 13th place finish in the 14-team Atlantic Ten Conference with a 1-7-1 record last year.

As soon as the whistle blew on the 2007 campaign, the team was aware that its scoring woes were going to need to be addressed.

“We knew that from the start,” said sophomore forward Brian Henderson, the Owls’ top scorer with four goals last season. “There has to be more offensive production. It’s the first thing we talked about at the beginning of the preseason.”

They’ll most likely talk about it a little more after producing just one goal in their season-opening 3-1 loss to host Villanova on Aug. 29.

Junior forward J.T. Noone, one of the experienced players on a squad that essentially relied on freshmen last season, scored at the 80-minute mark of the contest, helping the Owls avoid a shutout.

“A lot of it is just the finishing part,” Noone said about the Owls’ scoring troubles. “We were able to create chances at times last year and we weren’t able to finish. A lot of it is just getting as many shots on goal as you can. If we can get that first goal early on in the season, that will do a lot to help get us over the hump.”

Temple hasn’t made the A-10 Tournament since 2004, when the team lost to George Washington in the championship match. The Owls also finished runner-up in the tournament in 2003.

Ninth-year coach David MacWilliams, who had to play freshmen in key positions last season, said this year’s group has gained experience and that he’s hoping it will help the squad this season.

“We have a lot more depth than we’ve had in the last two years,” MacWilliams said. “I think that’s going to be a big difference. I feel that I can start a number of different combinations this season when I didn’t have that luxury before. I feel like almost everyone on the roster has an opportunity to play, freshmen included.”

One of those freshmen, Upland, Calif., native Chris Velasquez, is one of the Owls’ forwards, along with Henderson and Noone, who dished out a team-high five assists last season.

Five to six players could see action as outside midfielders, including sophomore Kenechukwu Nwanah, junior Francois Sagna and sophomore Brian Weinhardt.

Juniors Matt Chevrollier and Mike Puppolo, sophomore Jared Harris and freshman Tyler Witmer could line up as defensive midfielders. They are among eight to 10 players who could start on defense, MacWilliams said.

Defense was one of the Owls’ strong points last season.

The team allowed 24 goals last year – good for a four-way tie for sixth place in the A-10. Temple also surrendered three or more goals in only three matches.

However, last season’s goalkeepers, Tony Pratico and Trevor Lyman, have graduated and redshirt sophomore Bryant Hosler and redshirt freshman Derek Long both suffered injuries in the offseason.
As a result, redshirt sophomore Bret Mollon, a mid-year transfer from Oakland, Calif., will front the net for the Owls.

“I know I have this spot for now, but I have to keep a mental edge and keep competing even though there is no competition right now,” Mollon said. “I have to be on top of my game, every minute of every game.”

Especially come October, when the Owls begin conference play with four consecutive road matches.
Although that stretch is followed by five straight home matches to end the regular season, MacWilliams said he isn’t a fan of the league’s scheduling.

“To start your first four or five conference games on the road is unfair. It’s frustrating,” he said. “I think we should do a better job with scheduling.

“When you have five road games in a row, you have to come away with results. That helps give you momentum going into those last four or five games,” he added. “If you don’t get results in those road games, you’re pushing.”

The Owls will get another chance to test their road acumen Friday against Lafayette in the Lafayette Classic, a three-game series which concludes with Temple’s first regular season home match versus Hofstra at the Ambler Soccer Complex on Sept. 13.

Tyson McCloud can be reached at tyson@temple.edu.