Temple University Athletics
Hellgren Villegas and Karani Earn AAC Weekly Honor Roll and Philly Soccer 6 Nods
10.14.19 | Men's Soccer
PHILADELPHIA – After leading the Owls to a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory at RV Memphis on Saturday, freshman Sean Karani and sophomore Elias Hellgren Villegas have each earned a spot on the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for the week of Oct. 14. Karani netted a 25th-minute equalizer and Hellgren Villegas buried the double overtime game-winner to snap RV Memphis' six-game win streak and hand the Owls their first AAC win of the season. Hellgren Villegas was also named the Philly Soccer Six Player of the Week and Karani earned Rookie of the Week honors.
Memphis struck first just 12 minutes in off a corer kick to take an early lead in the conference battle. 10 minutes later, Karani produced the first scoring opportunity of the game for Temple when he displayed his quick footwork to beat two Memphis defenders and slot the ball back to the penalty area. Despite being denied by the Memphis defense, the Temple rookie kept the offensive pressure on and was able to capitalize on a breakaway to even the score in the 25th minute. Sophomore Andres Charles fed the ball to Karani in the center of the field, who caught the Memphis keeper off his line when he rocketed a powerful 25-yard shot on frame to bury his statement first goal in Cherry and White.
The Owls and the Tigers battled throughout regulation, but neither squad was able to find the deciding goal. Following a scoreless first overtime period that had the Owls outshooting the Tigers 3-0, Temple continued to press until the threatening opportunities paid off. Hellgren Villegas was the hero for the Cherry and White, finding the back of the net with less than four minutes left in the game to earn the squad its first AAC victory of the season. Freshman Amir Cohen worked the ball up the right flank and sent it into traffic, where Hellgren Villegas got on the end of it and put it away for his first goal of the season.
The Owls will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 18 to host USF. The conference match-up is set for 7 p.m. at the Temple Sports Complex.
AAC Weekly Honors
Offensive: Harris Partain, Tulsa
Defensive: Robin Lapert, UConn
GK: Gianluca Catalano, UConn
Rookie: Gino Vivi, UCF
Weekly Honor Roll
Cal Jennings, UCF
Christoforos Kourtis, Memphis
Knut Ahlander, SMU
Elias Hellgren Villegas, Temple
Sean Karani, Temple
Memphis struck first just 12 minutes in off a corer kick to take an early lead in the conference battle. 10 minutes later, Karani produced the first scoring opportunity of the game for Temple when he displayed his quick footwork to beat two Memphis defenders and slot the ball back to the penalty area. Despite being denied by the Memphis defense, the Temple rookie kept the offensive pressure on and was able to capitalize on a breakaway to even the score in the 25th minute. Sophomore Andres Charles fed the ball to Karani in the center of the field, who caught the Memphis keeper off his line when he rocketed a powerful 25-yard shot on frame to bury his statement first goal in Cherry and White.
The Owls and the Tigers battled throughout regulation, but neither squad was able to find the deciding goal. Following a scoreless first overtime period that had the Owls outshooting the Tigers 3-0, Temple continued to press until the threatening opportunities paid off. Hellgren Villegas was the hero for the Cherry and White, finding the back of the net with less than four minutes left in the game to earn the squad its first AAC victory of the season. Freshman Amir Cohen worked the ball up the right flank and sent it into traffic, where Hellgren Villegas got on the end of it and put it away for his first goal of the season.
The Owls will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 18 to host USF. The conference match-up is set for 7 p.m. at the Temple Sports Complex.
AAC Weekly Honors
Offensive: Harris Partain, Tulsa
Defensive: Robin Lapert, UConn
GK: Gianluca Catalano, UConn
Rookie: Gino Vivi, UCF
Weekly Honor Roll
Cal Jennings, UCF
Christoforos Kourtis, Memphis
Knut Ahlander, SMU
Elias Hellgren Villegas, Temple
Sean Karani, Temple
Players Mentioned
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