#23 Men's Soccer Gets Two Second-Half Goals to Top Villanova, 2-1

Wednesday, September 16

Villanova, Pa.

4:00 p.m.

Temple University

5-0-1

Villanova

3-2

Temple

Villanova

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

#23 Men's Soccer Gets Two Second-Half Goals to Top Villanova, 2-1

9.16.15 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. – Playing almost 70 scoreless minutes on Wednesday afternoon before a breakthrough, the #23-ranked Temple men's soccer team was able to defeat the Villanova Wildcats 2-1 and remain undefeated in its 2015 campaign.

"I thought the guys battled very hard today," said head coach David MacWilliams. "It was a tough game and I thought Villanova was a very good team. They gave us fits at times and Alex Cagle came up big for us today. We prevailed, went up 2-0, and they still fought to the end. Anytime we can go on the road and beat a quality team like that says a lot about our group."

With the first half closing without a score from either team, the Owls and the Wildcats both posted six shots with the Owls earning six corner kicks through the first 45 minutes. The second half opened and the Owls capitalized on a set piece in the 70th minute after a corner taken by Hermann Doerner was cleared out to Belal Mohamed. Mohamed sent a pass through the middle to Carlos Moros Gracia who found the back of the net from six yards out and tabbed the first goal of the game.

In the 88th minute, Jordan Wix-Rauch and Jorge Gomez Sanchez teamed up to force a turnover that Gomez Sanchez worked past a Wildcat defender to send into the lower left side of the net for the Owls' second goal. With the season's fourth shutout less than a minute away, the Wildcats answered when John Jlopleh hit the lone goal for Villanova with just 37 seconds remaining in the game to make the final score 2-1.

Cagle was put to the test facing 17 total shots and making seven crucial saves to allow only one goal from the aggressive Wildcat offense.

The Owls now stand at an undefeated 5-0-1 record and travel across town to take on Penn Sunday, Sept. 20 at 7:00 p.m.