Temple University Athletics
Saturday, November 9
Memphis, Tenn.
8:00 PM
Temple University
at
Memphis
Men's Soccer Set for AAC Quarterfinal at Memphis Saturday
11.8.19 | Men's Soccer
PHILADELPHIA – The road to the 2019 American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship title officially begins Saturday, Nov. 9 as the bracket is locked and six talented teams prepare to fight their way to the Championship match. The Temple men's soccer team (7-7-2, 3-2-2 AAC) was resilient through a challenging regular season slate to earn the fifth-seed in the championship field, sending them to fourth-seeded Memphis (10-6, 4-3 AAC) for the quarterfinal game. The match will kick off at 8:00 p.m. ET under the lights of the Memphis Track & Soccer Complex on Saturday as the conference-foes will fight for the chance to advance through the tournament.
AAC Tournament Breakdown
> The conference tournament features a single-elimination format that is set to begin on Saturday, Nov. 9. With the top-two seeds receiving byes into next week's semifinal, four teams will square off in Saturday's quarterfinal rounds as No. 3 seed USF will host No. 6 seed UConn and No. 4 seed will entertain No. 5 seed Temple. After the quarterfinals, top-seeded UCF will host the remainder of the tournament and will face the winner of Memphis vs. Temple, while No. 2 seed and two-time defending AAC Champion SMU will play either USF or UConn on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
> Both semifinal matches at the UCF Soccer & Track Complex will air live on Facebook via the American Digital Network, while the championship contest will be available live on ESPN3.
Last Time Out
> The Owls are coming off of a Senior Night heartbreaker on Tuesday night when they fell 2-1 to No. 11 SMU with 4:31 left in double overtime to wrap up regular season play. Temple battled the Mustangs and their second-ranked scoring offense relentlessly, but a game-winner from the conference's leading scorer handed the Mustangs their 14th win of the season.
> Throughout the first half, the Temple backline of Pierre Cayet, Esteban Suarez, Borger, Nick Sarver and glimpses of Santiago Majewski were fierce to shut down the Mustang offense that sits second in the nation with 3.53 goals per game. Cayet stopped a goal-line shot and stuffed the American's leading goal scorer Garrett McLaughlin on numerous occasions to keep the sheet clean on the board. Entering into the locker room, the Owls had a 3-1 nudge in shots on goal after a combined 17 shots were fired off.
> The second half was even more action-packed than the first as Temple matched up evenly against 11th-ranked SMU. In the 60th minute, it had looked as if the Owls took the lead when Karani sent a through ball to sophomore Elias Hellgren Villegas at the near post. Hellgren Villegas tapped it one-time towards goal, but the shot ricocheted off the post to deny the close chance for the Owls.
> After 68 scoreless minutes between two physical teams, the Mustangs struck first when Knut Ahlander found the back of the net to increase his point-total on the season to 25. Temple equalized just 65 seconds later when the Owls controlled possession and worked the ball into the Mustang defensive third. Fernandes sent a ball from the left flank into dangerous territory where Hellgren Villegas was waiting. The sophomore tapped the ball back to Cayet, who put a left-footed shot into the back of the net for his third goal of the season.
> Despite the hard-fought battle, SMU found the golden goal in the 106th minute to secure the two-seed in the conference tournament and conclude the regular season with just one loss on the year. The Mustang goal came from none other than McLaughlin, who found the back of the net for the 15th time this season.
Scouting the Owls
> Temple is coached by Brian Rowland in his second year at the helm of the program. During the regular season, Rowland led the Owls to a 7-7-2 overall record through an extremely challenging nonconference slate that featured three top-15 teams and notable road wins over top-25 RPI teams in Memphis and Louisville. The Owls punched their ticket to the AAC tournament with a win over UConn, but USF's win over Memphis and Temple's double overtime loss to No. 11 SMU dropped the squad to the fifth seed in the tournament. The loss to SMU snapped a five-game unbeaten streak held by the Owls and was the first game that Temple conceded more than one goal in since the conference opener against No. 12 UCF on Sept. 27.
> Fernandes spearheads the Temple offense with 10 points from three goals and four assists over the course of the regular season. The senior captain helped drive the Temple offense through the back half of the year as the Owls notched 10 of their 16 goals in the last six games. Freshman Sean Karani has also been a strong offensive threat for the Cherry and White, notching eight points from three goals and two assists in his rookie regular season.
> The Temple defense has been pivotal to the team's success on both ends of the ball as all four members of the squad's starting back four have found the back of the net on at least one occasion this season. A center back, Cayet has notched a team-leading three goals this season and has continued to shut down the conference's top scorers on numerous occasions. Alongside their junior captain, Borger has scored a pair of goals and Brandon Johnson and Suarez have each found the back of the net once. The defensive unit accounts for 17 of the team's 45 points on the year.
> Lefebvre has been phenomenal between the post for Temple all season, leading the American with a goals against average of 0.95 after allowing just 16 goals in as many games and playing all 1510 minutes for the Owls. The senior goalkeeper concluded the regular season ranked third in the American with 45 saves and second with four shutouts to help back the brick-wall Cherry and White defensive unit.
RPI Watch
> The Owls remain in the NCAA Men's Soccer RPI top-50, coming in at No. 45 this week before their five-game unbeaten streak was snapped by 11th-ranked SMU. They have risen as high as No. 34 in RPI so far this season, a ranking that came about after downing both No. 13 Louisville and No. 23 Memphis.
> Temple has faced four top-10 squads this season in No. 1 Georgetown, No. 3 UCF, No. 4 St. John's and No. 10 SMU.
Scouting the Tigers
> Memphis is coached by Richard Mulrooney in his sixth season heading the program. He led the Tigers to a 10-6 regular season record with a 4-3 tab in conference play that earned hosting rights and the fourth seed in the tournament. The Tigers currently rank 26th in RPI and received 16 votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll. During the regular season, Memphis stunned No. 3 SMU when they dished the Mustangs their lone loss on the year in a 4-3 overtime victory and notably beat No. 10 Xavier in a 3-2 win on Sept. 14.
> Memphis is coming off a 3-1 Senior Night loss to conference-foe USF on Nov. 5. Despite a late goal by Peter Chang, the Tigers couldn't put it together offensively to combat the Bulls' three tallies.
> Memphis put together a threatening offense over the course of the regular season that produced 100 points from 33 goals and 34 assists. Eight different Tigers notched multiple goals, but Sam Ashton led the squad with 23 points from 10 goals and three assists. Trailing Ashton is Christoforos Kourtis, who leads the team with six assists and has found the back of the net on three occasions this year.
> Parker Lackland defended Memphis between the posts for 1389 minutes through 15 games this year. He's allowed 22 goals for a goals against average of 1.43 and his 37 saves are good for a .627 save percentage.
The Regular Season Meeting
> Temple earned the check in the win column during the regular season meeting between the Owls and the Tigers in thrilling fashion. Temple downed its nationally recognized opponent in the 106th minute and snapped a six-game win streak held by the Tigers after a Karani equalizer in response to a 25th minute Memphis goal sent the teams into overtime. Outshooting the man-down Tigers 4-1 in extra time, Temple's pressure paid off when Elias Hellgren Villegas buried the game-winner to lift the Owls to victory.
AAC Tournament Breakdown
> The conference tournament features a single-elimination format that is set to begin on Saturday, Nov. 9. With the top-two seeds receiving byes into next week's semifinal, four teams will square off in Saturday's quarterfinal rounds as No. 3 seed USF will host No. 6 seed UConn and No. 4 seed will entertain No. 5 seed Temple. After the quarterfinals, top-seeded UCF will host the remainder of the tournament and will face the winner of Memphis vs. Temple, while No. 2 seed and two-time defending AAC Champion SMU will play either USF or UConn on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
> Both semifinal matches at the UCF Soccer & Track Complex will air live on Facebook via the American Digital Network, while the championship contest will be available live on ESPN3.
Last Time Out
> The Owls are coming off of a Senior Night heartbreaker on Tuesday night when they fell 2-1 to No. 11 SMU with 4:31 left in double overtime to wrap up regular season play. Temple battled the Mustangs and their second-ranked scoring offense relentlessly, but a game-winner from the conference's leading scorer handed the Mustangs their 14th win of the season.
> Throughout the first half, the Temple backline of Pierre Cayet, Esteban Suarez, Borger, Nick Sarver and glimpses of Santiago Majewski were fierce to shut down the Mustang offense that sits second in the nation with 3.53 goals per game. Cayet stopped a goal-line shot and stuffed the American's leading goal scorer Garrett McLaughlin on numerous occasions to keep the sheet clean on the board. Entering into the locker room, the Owls had a 3-1 nudge in shots on goal after a combined 17 shots were fired off.
> The second half was even more action-packed than the first as Temple matched up evenly against 11th-ranked SMU. In the 60th minute, it had looked as if the Owls took the lead when Karani sent a through ball to sophomore Elias Hellgren Villegas at the near post. Hellgren Villegas tapped it one-time towards goal, but the shot ricocheted off the post to deny the close chance for the Owls.
> After 68 scoreless minutes between two physical teams, the Mustangs struck first when Knut Ahlander found the back of the net to increase his point-total on the season to 25. Temple equalized just 65 seconds later when the Owls controlled possession and worked the ball into the Mustang defensive third. Fernandes sent a ball from the left flank into dangerous territory where Hellgren Villegas was waiting. The sophomore tapped the ball back to Cayet, who put a left-footed shot into the back of the net for his third goal of the season.
> Despite the hard-fought battle, SMU found the golden goal in the 106th minute to secure the two-seed in the conference tournament and conclude the regular season with just one loss on the year. The Mustang goal came from none other than McLaughlin, who found the back of the net for the 15th time this season.
Scouting the Owls
> Temple is coached by Brian Rowland in his second year at the helm of the program. During the regular season, Rowland led the Owls to a 7-7-2 overall record through an extremely challenging nonconference slate that featured three top-15 teams and notable road wins over top-25 RPI teams in Memphis and Louisville. The Owls punched their ticket to the AAC tournament with a win over UConn, but USF's win over Memphis and Temple's double overtime loss to No. 11 SMU dropped the squad to the fifth seed in the tournament. The loss to SMU snapped a five-game unbeaten streak held by the Owls and was the first game that Temple conceded more than one goal in since the conference opener against No. 12 UCF on Sept. 27.
> Fernandes spearheads the Temple offense with 10 points from three goals and four assists over the course of the regular season. The senior captain helped drive the Temple offense through the back half of the year as the Owls notched 10 of their 16 goals in the last six games. Freshman Sean Karani has also been a strong offensive threat for the Cherry and White, notching eight points from three goals and two assists in his rookie regular season.
> The Temple defense has been pivotal to the team's success on both ends of the ball as all four members of the squad's starting back four have found the back of the net on at least one occasion this season. A center back, Cayet has notched a team-leading three goals this season and has continued to shut down the conference's top scorers on numerous occasions. Alongside their junior captain, Borger has scored a pair of goals and Brandon Johnson and Suarez have each found the back of the net once. The defensive unit accounts for 17 of the team's 45 points on the year.
> Lefebvre has been phenomenal between the post for Temple all season, leading the American with a goals against average of 0.95 after allowing just 16 goals in as many games and playing all 1510 minutes for the Owls. The senior goalkeeper concluded the regular season ranked third in the American with 45 saves and second with four shutouts to help back the brick-wall Cherry and White defensive unit.
RPI Watch
> The Owls remain in the NCAA Men's Soccer RPI top-50, coming in at No. 45 this week before their five-game unbeaten streak was snapped by 11th-ranked SMU. They have risen as high as No. 34 in RPI so far this season, a ranking that came about after downing both No. 13 Louisville and No. 23 Memphis.
> Temple has faced four top-10 squads this season in No. 1 Georgetown, No. 3 UCF, No. 4 St. John's and No. 10 SMU.
Scouting the Tigers
> Memphis is coached by Richard Mulrooney in his sixth season heading the program. He led the Tigers to a 10-6 regular season record with a 4-3 tab in conference play that earned hosting rights and the fourth seed in the tournament. The Tigers currently rank 26th in RPI and received 16 votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll. During the regular season, Memphis stunned No. 3 SMU when they dished the Mustangs their lone loss on the year in a 4-3 overtime victory and notably beat No. 10 Xavier in a 3-2 win on Sept. 14.
> Memphis is coming off a 3-1 Senior Night loss to conference-foe USF on Nov. 5. Despite a late goal by Peter Chang, the Tigers couldn't put it together offensively to combat the Bulls' three tallies.
> Memphis put together a threatening offense over the course of the regular season that produced 100 points from 33 goals and 34 assists. Eight different Tigers notched multiple goals, but Sam Ashton led the squad with 23 points from 10 goals and three assists. Trailing Ashton is Christoforos Kourtis, who leads the team with six assists and has found the back of the net on three occasions this year.
> Parker Lackland defended Memphis between the posts for 1389 minutes through 15 games this year. He's allowed 22 goals for a goals against average of 1.43 and his 37 saves are good for a .627 save percentage.
The Regular Season Meeting
> Temple earned the check in the win column during the regular season meeting between the Owls and the Tigers in thrilling fashion. Temple downed its nationally recognized opponent in the 106th minute and snapped a six-game win streak held by the Tigers after a Karani equalizer in response to a 25th minute Memphis goal sent the teams into overtime. Outshooting the man-down Tigers 4-1 in extra time, Temple's pressure paid off when Elias Hellgren Villegas buried the game-winner to lift the Owls to victory.
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