Temple Men's Soccer Strives for Greatness in 2018

Temple Men's Soccer Strives for Greatness in 2018

8.22.18 | Men's Soccer

2018 Media Guide

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple University men's soccer team looks to inspire as they return to the pitch and open their 2018 season this Friday. The Owls eagerly await this year with a fresh slate after the addition of 17 players and an entirely new coaching staff to an already talented 11 player core.

After an internally competitive preseason, Temple completed a two-game exhibition schedule against Loyola Md. and Stony Brook, both hosted at the Temple Sports Complex. These hard-fought battles were the first of many for the fresh team and coaching staff and proved to be exactly what the Owls needed to prepare them for upcoming competition.

"Anytime you can play in a real game setting it provides a clearer picture of areas of strength and potential improvement within the team," head coach Brian Rowland explained. "I thought both games were very competitive and both opponents should excel in their conferences, so preseason was a wonderful test for us."

With so many new faces wearing Cherry and White this season, the Owls have worked hard to develop team chemistry on and off the field. After coaching his team through the spring and now preseason, Rowland is optimistic that his 2018 team will thrive across all ends of the field.

"The big thing with this group is that it is very competitive. There are positional battles all over the field, which is what will help keep everyone working hard with the same goals in mind."

Position by Position:
From a goalkeeping perspective the Owls return junior Michael Samnik and senior Robin Goetz to the net in 2018. Samnik played 11 games in 2017 totaling 1001:29 minutes. He finished the season with a 1.17 goals against average, 33 saves and an overall record of 7-4-0. New in the net this season is 6-foot-9 Simon Lefebvre who comes to Philadelphia from Ossun, France.

"I think Simon and Michael are having a great battle and give us two outstanding goalkeepers, so from this standpoint we are very pleased. Robin is in the mix there too, giving us a great core building from the back," said Rowland.

Defensively, the Owls have many new faces but seek leadership from returning juniors Nick Sarver and Zach Brown. Temple will look to Prince Agyei, Akeem Prawl, Tyler Gainer, Pierre Cayet and Gabe Harms to have a strong impact across the back line during their first season in Cherry and White.

"Nick is really performing in both outside back positions and Zach gives us a strong option to play in the center," said Rowland. "Additionally, we are very pleased with the new players. Prince gives us physicality that we will really need this season, and Pierre is a fantastic, high quality center back. Akeem, Tyler and Gabe all have been doing well and will be very helpful as we look to find the best combination in the back."

The Owls are looking towards a greater deal of familiarity in the midfield with Hermann Doerner, Lukas Fernandes and Matt Trepanier all returning this season as upperclassmen. Supporting this core returning group is Andres Charles-Barrera, Jalen Campbell, Aaron Laranetto, Daniel Nugent and Jake Silverstein, who have all found success during their first weeks at Temple.

"Hermann has been a great captain and leader for us on and off the field, always battling and giving his all. Lukas and Matt are versatile and have both thrived this preseason as we look to use them up top too. Andres is a great player that has given us strong ability in the center right away, and Jalen has also excelled for us. Aaron is a transfer who will certainly compete in these positions and has worked to prove himself. Across the board, every player that we have looked at has shown greatness."

At forward the Owls return seniors Jordan Wix Rauch, Justin Hahn and Belal Mohamed who provide a strong foundation in the attacking third. The new faces up top will be Michele Ganz, Elias Hellgren Villegas and Leandros Lillis who also bring a great deal of talent to the table.

"Jordan and Belal up top have both shown high quality play in preseason. Michele will look to be a strong force with us along with Elias who is emerging well. Leandros has phenomenal talent around the goal, and getting Justin back from his injury last season gives us another great option. I think that we will have solutions to each game this season knowing how deep and competitive our roster is."

The Owls will utilize this strong roster shortly as they open their season with four games on the road. The 2018 season will kick off against head coach Brian Rowland's alma mater, UMBC, on Friday, August 24^th followed by road games at VCU, Old Dominion and Rider. Temple will then host their season opener on September 8^th when they take on St. John's at the Temple Sports Complex. After travelling for two more games, Temple will kick off their conference schedule when they host UCF on September 21^st.

Despite the multitude of changes over the past year within the program, Rowland and his coaching staff are confident about what is to come this season.

"Our main goal is to always compete with one another and work to get better every day" said Rowland. "I think we have an enormous amount of talent, and if we focus on what we need to do each day we have a great opportunity to be successful from the very start. We are beyond excited for this season, and we look forward to using each game an opportunity to learn and grow as a team."