Temple University Athletics
Friday, October 18
Philadelphia, Pa.
7:00 PM
Temple University
vs
USF
Men's Soccer Set to Host USF Friday
10.17.19 | Men's Soccer
PHILADELPHIA – The Temple men's soccer team (4-6-1, 1-1-1 AAC) will look to build off its momentum from Saturday's double-overtime thriller in another AAC match-up on Friday, Oct. 18 against USF (8-3, 2-1-0 AAC). The conference battle is set to begin at 7 p.m. under the lights at the Temple Sports Complex as the Owls look to secure their second-straight win in AAC play.
Last Time Out
> The Owls are coming off of a critical conference victory on Saturday when they downed RV Memphis in the 106th minute to secure their first AAC win of the season. Freshman Sean Karani netted a 25th-minute equalizer and sophomore Elias Hellgren Villegas buried the golden goal to snap a six-game win streak by Memphis.
> Memphis earned its second corner of the game in the 16th minute and capitalized on the set piece to take the early 1-0 lead. Kourtis Christoforos got behind the ball and sent an inswinging corner into the six yard box, where Ford Hunt capitalized on a Temple miscue and buried his first goal of the season.
> Outshooting the Tigers 4-3 at this stage of the game, Temple kept the offensive pressure on and capitalized 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 and rocketed a powerful shot on frame from over 20 yards out to bury his statement first goal in Cherry and White.
> Entering the pitch for the second half, Memphis was forced to play with 10 men for the remainder of the game after being issued a red card in the 45th minute. The Owls saw the advantage and tested the man-down Tigers early to earn a free kick in the 47th minute near the corner flag. Esteban Suarez lofted the ball inside the 18 where freshman Lior Nesher collected it to fire off a shot, but the chance was blocked by a Memphis defender.
> After 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. 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.
Scouting the Owls
> Temple is coached by Brian Rowland in his second season at the helm of the program. So far this year, he's led the squad to a 4-6-1 record after battling through an extremely challenging non-conference slate. Last week's contest at No. 10 St. John's was Temple's third top-15 match-up of the season, and Memphis was one of six teams on the Owls' schedule to show up in this week's United Soccer Coaches Poll (#3 SMU, #7 St. John's, #11 UCF, #13 Georgetown, RV Memphis and RV Louisville).
> Conceding just 11 goals in as many games played, the Temple defense has been a critical force as the Owls strive to put the pieces together offensively. Despite outshooting opponents 149-103 so far this year, the squad has netted just eight goals in their 11 games coming from seven different players.
> Senior captain Lukas Fernandes leads the Owls with five points from two goals and one assist. He's fired off 37 shots in his 10 games played, 20 of which he put on target. Trailing Fernandes in points is a pair of freshmen in Amir Cohen and Sean Karani, who tie at three with a goal and an assist apiece.
> Senior Simon Lefebvre has spearheaded the Owls in net for all 1025 minutes this season. He's accumulated a goals against average of 0.97 after saving 26 shots and allowing just 11 goals for an overall record of 4-6-1.
> Karani and Hellgren Villegas each landed a spot on the American Weekly Honor Roll this week after their contributions to the squad's first AAC win of the season on Saturday. In addition, Hellgren Villegas' golden goal heroics earned Philly Soccer Six Player of the Week nods while Karani was named the league's Rookie of the Week.
Scouting the Bulls
> USF is coached by Bob Butehorn in his third year heading the program. So far this season, he's led the Bulls to a 7-3 overall record with a 2-1 mark in the conference. USF received votes in the week three United Soccer Coaches Poll after three straight wins in September, one of which featured a 2-0 upset over No. 5 Louisville.
> The Bulls are coming off a dominating 4-1 win over Jacksonville on Tuesday night. The offensive outburst was backed by goals from Avionne Flanagan, Henrique Gallina, Ignasi Lupon Fores and Jonathan Rosales, and freshman goalkeeper Cooper Blay got his first career start between the posts for USF.
> Flanagan notched his first goal of the season against the Dolphins and leads the team in points thanks to the additional six assists he's dished out this year. The junior-senior duo of Emilio Ycaza and Rosales have each netted three goals for the Bulls this season with Rosales adding an assist for seven total points.
> Harrison Devenish-Meares has led the squad in net for 810 minutes this season. The senior has allowed just nine goals in as many games played for a goals against average of 1.00 and has saved 24 shots so far this season.
The Series
> The Owls have accumulated a 1-5-1 record against the Bulls since the teams first met at the formation of the American in 2013. The squads battled to a 1-1 draw in their first-ever meeting, followed by four-straight victories for USF. Temple earned its lone win over the Bulls in 2017 in a 1-0 November match-up. Most recently, the Bulls edged the Owls 3-2 in overtime in 2018.
Last Time Out
> The Owls are coming off of a critical conference victory on Saturday when they downed RV Memphis in the 106th minute to secure their first AAC win of the season. Freshman Sean Karani netted a 25th-minute equalizer and sophomore Elias Hellgren Villegas buried the golden goal to snap a six-game win streak by Memphis.
> Memphis earned its second corner of the game in the 16th minute and capitalized on the set piece to take the early 1-0 lead. Kourtis Christoforos got behind the ball and sent an inswinging corner into the six yard box, where Ford Hunt capitalized on a Temple miscue and buried his first goal of the season.
> Outshooting the Tigers 4-3 at this stage of the game, Temple kept the offensive pressure on and capitalized 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 and rocketed a powerful shot on frame from over 20 yards out to bury his statement first goal in Cherry and White.
> Entering the pitch for the second half, Memphis was forced to play with 10 men for the remainder of the game after being issued a red card in the 45th minute. The Owls saw the advantage and tested the man-down Tigers early to earn a free kick in the 47th minute near the corner flag. Esteban Suarez lofted the ball inside the 18 where freshman Lior Nesher collected it to fire off a shot, but the chance was blocked by a Memphis defender.
> After 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. 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.
Scouting the Owls
> Temple is coached by Brian Rowland in his second season at the helm of the program. So far this year, he's led the squad to a 4-6-1 record after battling through an extremely challenging non-conference slate. Last week's contest at No. 10 St. John's was Temple's third top-15 match-up of the season, and Memphis was one of six teams on the Owls' schedule to show up in this week's United Soccer Coaches Poll (#3 SMU, #7 St. John's, #11 UCF, #13 Georgetown, RV Memphis and RV Louisville).
> Conceding just 11 goals in as many games played, the Temple defense has been a critical force as the Owls strive to put the pieces together offensively. Despite outshooting opponents 149-103 so far this year, the squad has netted just eight goals in their 11 games coming from seven different players.
> Senior captain Lukas Fernandes leads the Owls with five points from two goals and one assist. He's fired off 37 shots in his 10 games played, 20 of which he put on target. Trailing Fernandes in points is a pair of freshmen in Amir Cohen and Sean Karani, who tie at three with a goal and an assist apiece.
> Senior Simon Lefebvre has spearheaded the Owls in net for all 1025 minutes this season. He's accumulated a goals against average of 0.97 after saving 26 shots and allowing just 11 goals for an overall record of 4-6-1.
> Karani and Hellgren Villegas each landed a spot on the American Weekly Honor Roll this week after their contributions to the squad's first AAC win of the season on Saturday. In addition, Hellgren Villegas' golden goal heroics earned Philly Soccer Six Player of the Week nods while Karani was named the league's Rookie of the Week.
Scouting the Bulls
> USF is coached by Bob Butehorn in his third year heading the program. So far this season, he's led the Bulls to a 7-3 overall record with a 2-1 mark in the conference. USF received votes in the week three United Soccer Coaches Poll after three straight wins in September, one of which featured a 2-0 upset over No. 5 Louisville.
> The Bulls are coming off a dominating 4-1 win over Jacksonville on Tuesday night. The offensive outburst was backed by goals from Avionne Flanagan, Henrique Gallina, Ignasi Lupon Fores and Jonathan Rosales, and freshman goalkeeper Cooper Blay got his first career start between the posts for USF.
> Flanagan notched his first goal of the season against the Dolphins and leads the team in points thanks to the additional six assists he's dished out this year. The junior-senior duo of Emilio Ycaza and Rosales have each netted three goals for the Bulls this season with Rosales adding an assist for seven total points.
> Harrison Devenish-Meares has led the squad in net for 810 minutes this season. The senior has allowed just nine goals in as many games played for a goals against average of 1.00 and has saved 24 shots so far this season.
The Series
> The Owls have accumulated a 1-5-1 record against the Bulls since the teams first met at the formation of the American in 2013. The squads battled to a 1-1 draw in their first-ever meeting, followed by four-straight victories for USF. Temple earned its lone win over the Bulls in 2017 in a 1-0 November match-up. Most recently, the Bulls edged the Owls 3-2 in overtime in 2018.
Players Mentioned
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