All-Around Effort Lifts Men's Soccer To 2-0 Win At Fordham

Friday, October 26

New York, NY

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

8-5-3, 4-1-2A10

Fordham

5-6-3, 1-3-2A10

Temple

Fordham

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

All-Around Effort Lifts Men's Soccer To 2-0 Win At Fordham

10.26.12 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. – Temple got back to its winning ways in Atlantic 10 Conference play Friday evening, as it defeated the Fordham Rams, 2-0, at Jack Coffey Stadium to improve to 4-1-1 in league play and 8-5-3 overall. Freshman Jared Martinelli set the tone quickly by scoring his eighth goal of the season in the 14th minute, before junior Jake Lister widened the gap before the teams broke for halftime with his goal in the 40th minute.

Needing to make only four saves on the night, sophomore Dan Scheck notched his third shutout in six starts this season. The Sayville, N.Y. native improved his personal record to 3-1-1 in between the goalposts this season, while giving the Owls their sixth clean sheet of the season, surpassing last season's total of five.

The Owls' defensive unit proved to be on point, as they caused six of Fordham's 10 shots to go off target. Temple's aggressiveness also proved to be a benefactor in the contest. Having 14 fouls to Fordham's six, the Owls were able to interrupt the Rams' possessions.

Senior Cody Calafiore lifted a corner into play, which found senior Homero Rodriguez inside the box. Rodriguez slid the ball to Martinelli, enabling the Mechanicsburg, Pa. native to pick up the 25th point of his rookie season in a Cherry & White uniform.

Martinelli stands just three points shy of breaking into Temple's top 10 for most points in a single season. His eight goals on the year is now the most by an Owl since Tyler Witmer ('11) tallied as many back in 2008. The last player to rack up at least 25 points in a single season was J.T. Noone in 2008, when he finished the year with 27.

With Calafiore getting things started, it marked the fifth time that he and Martinelli combined on a goal this season. Calafiore has tallied at least one point in three of the last four games, bringing his season total to 13 points on the year.

Extending the Owls' lead and giving the team a comfortable lead heading into the midway point, Lister came on the field in the 26th minute as a substitution for Martinelli. Needing just 14 minutes, Lister, who had a game-high six shots, collected his fourth goal of the season when he was fed a pass from junior Vaughn Spurrier, who tied Martinelli for the team lead in assists with nine.

Together, Spurrier and Martinelli combine for 18 assists, which is the most by a duo in program history.

With its win, Temple is undefeated in nine of its last 11 games, helping them mover closer toward clinching a postseason berth. Holding 14 points in the A-10 standings positions the team as the No. 4 seed for the conference tournament, for the time-being.

The Owls still have two games remaining, which will not be easy, as they will close out the season against two inner-city rivals: La Salle and Saint Joseph's.

Temple will close out the road portion of its 2012 regular season schedule when it makes its way over to McCarthy Stadium for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff against the La Salle Explorers, who are coming off a 1-1 draw against Saint Joseph's on Friday evening.