Men's Soccer Drops Close Match to No. 10 St. John's

Tuesday, October 8

Queens, NY

7:00 PM

Temple University

3-6-1, 0-1-1

No. 10 St. John's

10-1-0, 3-0-0

Temple

St. John's (NY)

Men's Soccer Drops Close Match to No. 10 St. John's

10.8.19 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

QUEENS, N.Y. – The Temple men's soccer team (3-6-1, 0-1-1 AAC) battled relentlessly against No. 10 St. John's (10-1, 3-0 BIG EAST) on Tuesday evening, but the Owls were unable to break down the talented Red Storm defense that has allowed just five goals in 11 games. Despite being held to just one shot on goal in 90 minutes of play, the Red Storm's Tani Oluwaseyi netted his seventh goal of the season to lift the top-10 Johnnies to victory.

How it Happened
> St. John's carried momentum early in the game and was able to test senior goalkeeper Simon Lefebvre early off the whistle. The Red Storm lofted the ball into the six yard box, but Lefebvre leaped up the keep the score even early on. After the first few minutes, the Owls picked up the pace and matched up well against their top-10 opponent through the remainder of play.
> In the 16th minute, it looked as though St. John's had taken the lead when Einar Lye seemingly capitalized on the end of a series of Red Storm shots, but the buried shot was negated by an offsides call. The Owls responded with their first solid offensive chance of the game after their pressure earned them their first corner kick. Senior Leandros Lillis got behind the kick and dropped it back to Tyrese Edwards, who fired off a shot but was denied by the Red Storm keeper, Jan Hoffelner.
> The Temple offense came firing again with a stellar look on goal in the 28th minute. Lillis positioned himself at the top of the six and put force behind a driven header, but Hoffelner came up big for the Red Storm when he extended to his right and cleared the shot to safety.
> Illustrating why their offense ranks 13^th in the nation at 2.30 goals per game, the Red Storm put constant pressure on the Owls' back line but the Temple defense stepped up to shut down various orchestrated chances by their top-10 opponent. In the first 45 minutes of play, the Owls held the Johnnies to just five shots and did not allow them to strike on target.
> Elias Hellgren Villegas nearly put the Owls on the board in the 61^st minute. Keeping the Red Storm defense on their toes all evening, the sophomore forward collected a well-threaded ball in the 18, turned and fired a driven shot on target but St. John's second goalkeeper of the night, Luka Gavran, made a diving save to deny the chance.
> The Johnnies capitalized on their first shot on goal of the entire match in the 66^th minute, when Tani Oluwaseyi buried a one-time shot into the right pocket to put his team up by one. The game winner was Oluwaseyi's seventh tally of the season.
> Temple continued to fight and nearly returned the favor in the 73^rd minute when Lukas Fernandes capitalized on a St. John's miscue. The senior captain drove up the left flank and slotted the ball across the open goalmouth, but junior Justin Hahn just barely missed the tap-in.

Game Notes
> The Red Storm's game winner was their only shot on goal of the match, as the Temple defense was able to shut down countless chances and throw their opponent off. St. John's barely nudged Temple in shots (13-12), but Temple saw more corner kick opportunities (4-3). The Temple offense forced St. John's to make seven saves, whereas Lefebvre had his second straight game without a save.
> The 1-0 loss is Temple's fourth defeat that was decided by just a single goal this season, illustrating the strength of the Owls defensively and in goal.
> Lillis and Hellgren Villegas led the squad with three shots apiece. Lillis and Fernandes each put two threatening shots on goal, but were unable to find the equalizer before the clocked ran down.

Up Next
> The Owls will continue their road stretch on Saturday, Oct. 12 when they take on RV Memphis. Kickoff for the American Athletic Conference match-up is set for 8 p.m. ET.