Temple University Athletics
MEN'S SOCCER DROPS FIRST ROAD GAME OF SEASON, 3-2, AT RHODE ISLAND
11.2.03 | Men's Soccer
Rhode Island (9-9-1, 5-4-1) got on the board first when senior Conor Lander collected a loose ball and put in a blast from the top of the box to give the Rams the 1-0 lead at the 16:52 mark. URI took that one-goal lead into halftime.
Temple responded early in the second half when Joe Brocker fed a pass to Nick Ebersole who buried a shot into the lower right corner of the net to knot the game at 1-1 at the 46:09 mark. The two teams then battled evenly for the next 25 minutes before Rhode Island scored the go-ahead goal when sophomore captain Simon Gatti took a pass from sophomore Reuben Ray and put a shot passed a diving Patrick Hannigan to give the Rams the 2-1 lead in the 75th minute. URI scored again quickly when Lander started a breakaway and fed sophomore John Kochis who blasted a shot into the lower left corner to give the Rams the 3-1 advantage at the 76:28 mark.
Temple cut the Rams lead to one when Tony Donatelli took a cross from Chris Shelton at the top of the box and put a shot into the lower left corner of the net for his sixth goal of the season to make the score 3-2 in the 82nd minute. That would be as close as the Owls would get, however, as the Rams held on to the 3-2 victory.
Sophomore Dean Ruddy had three stops in net for the Rams in the victory while Hannigan made six saves for Temple in the loss. It marked the first time all season that Hannigan allowed more than one goal in a contest.
Besides losing on the scoreboard, the Owls also lost some key personnel due to injuries and cards. Ebersole broke his right leg late in the second half and will be lost for the remainder of the season. Junior Nate Webb, who leads TU with nine goals, received a red card in the 88th minute and will not be available for the regular season finale at Saint Joseph's on Saturday, November 8 (7:00 p.m.). If the Owls defeat the Hawks, they will earn a bye in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament the following week.
