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Thursday, August 29-Friday, August 30
Highlights
Rutgers 1, Temple 0
The Temple University men's soccer squad dropped a 1-0 decision to Rutgers on Thursday, Aug. 29 in their season opener. Despite controlling possession for much of the game, the Owls fell due to a second-half converted penalty kick under the lights at the Temple Sports Complex.
The Owls came out strong in the second half, earning the first opportunity off of a left-footed Sean Karani shot that whipped just wide. The Scarlet Knights quickly responded, pressing down the field to make their way into Temple's defensive third. Applying pressure on the sturdy Temple defense, Rutgers was able to earn a foul inside the 18 for a penalty kick. Rutgers freshman Jorgen Wisth Lie converted the kick, ultimately claiming the game-winning goal.
Eight Owls played under the lights in Cherry and White tonight for the first time, with five newcomers earning their first starts. Temple's offensive pressure is shown on the box score tonight as the Owls had the shot advantage over the Scarlet Knights, 15-7, and corner kick advantage, 6-2.
Maryland 1, USF 0
The USF men's soccer team knew coming into tonight's season-opener at No. 1 Maryland that it had a tough task at hand, but also knew that it was capable of pulling off the upset against the defending NCAA champion in one of the most hostile environments in collegiate soccer, Ludwig Field. The Bulls battled for the full 90 minutes, and had several chances, however could not find the back of the goal as the top-ranked Terrapins (1-0) handed USF (0-1) a tough 1-0 loss in College Park Thursday night.
The match was scoreless until the 70' when Maryland freshman Malcolm Johnston beat USF goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares with a header off a corner kick to the far-right post to give the Terps a 1-0 lead. The eventual game-winner came just four minutes after the Bulls' Victor Claudel made his way into the 18 and served the ball in front of the goal where Stephen Rudderham waited looking to put the Bulls on the board. Claudel's offering, however, was just over Rudderham's head.
Devenish-Meares kept USF in the match with two saves, including one on a breakaway by Maryland's Eric Matzelevich in the 11' to keep the game scoreless.
Avionne Flanagan in his return home, and Josue Monge accounted for USF's two shots on the night.
Wake Forest 2, UCF 1
The No. 15 UCF men's soccer team fell in their first match of the season to No. 4 Wake Forest by a score of 2-1.
After not registering a shot in the first half, Wake Forest took advantage of a turnover and netted the first goal of the match as Bruno Lapa scored in the fifty-eighth minute. Soon after, the Demon Deacons struck again in the sixty-sixth minute off another turnover where Kyle Holcomb beat Yannik Oettl one on one.
Late In the eighty-ninth minute, the Knights were awarded a corner kick and made the most of the opportunity. After controlling play for roughly half a minute after the corner, Gianluca Arcangeli punched home UCF's first goal of the season off an assist from freshman Jeremy Di Lallo. The Black and Gold were unable to make anything happen with the remaining seconds as they fell in a tight top 25 battle to start 2019.
UCF's goal in the ninetieth minute was the first scored against Wake Forest in program history. The Black and Gold had been previously shut out in their only two matches against Wake Forest, with their last meeting coming in 2006.
UConn 2, Rider 0
Senior transfer Jordan Hall shined in his UConn debut, tallying two goals to help lead UConn to a 2-0 shutout victory over the Rider Broncs Friday night at Al-Marzook Fields. Dayonn Harris dished out two assists while sophomore Felix Metzler and freshman Moussa Wade each notched assists of their own.
Friday night's season-opening win was a special one for the Huskies, as 23rd-year head coach Ray Reid surpassed the 300-career win milestone at UConn. Reid, who ranks second among active coaches with a .742 win percentage, now boasts a mark of 446-130-75 in 31 seasons as a head coach.
Following a few near scoring opportunities early in the match, UConn finally broke through in the 19th minute on a Jordan Hall tally. Senior Dayonn Harris raced up the far right sideline and sent a pass inside the box to Moussa Wade. Wade then delivered a pass to Hall and the senior rocketed his shot past the Rider keeper into the bottom left corner of the net.
UConn doubled its lead just 10 minutes into the second frame on another strike from Hall. After clearing the ball out of traffic, Felix Metzler headed the ball over to Dayonn Harris, who then sent a cross towards a sprinting Jordan Hall. Outleaping his defender, the forward headed his shot into the far right corner to give the home team at 2-nil advantage at 54:48.
Mercer 2, Cincinnati 0
University of Cincinnati men's soccer battled but came up short, 2-0, to Mercer on Friday night in the regular season opener at Gettler Stadium.
Following an early Bears (1-0) go-ahead goal in the 10th minute, the Bearcats (0-1) pressed hard throughout the match in search of the equalizer. After recording three shots on goal, to no avail, in the opening half, UC continued to forge ahead in the second period with multiple advances on offense.
The Red & Black's best chance to tie the match came with just minutes to play when senior forward Rex Epps got behind the defense and collected a feed from senior defender Donovan Segree deep in the box and pushed the ball just wide of the net in the 87th minute. Mercer quickly answered with a score minutes later to put the game out of reach for UC.
SMU 3, Lipscomb 0
The SMU men's soccer team used three first half goals to start their season off with a 3-0 victory versus the 2018 ASUN Championships, Lipscomb Bison.
The Mustangs (1-0-0) took the lead in the 24th minute when Nicky Hernandez received a cross from Eddie Munjoma at the top of the box and found the upper corner off a bicycle kick. After the game, the play was shown on ESPN's Sport Center as their No. 2 play of the night.
A few minutes later Hernandez would strike again, when the junior put his second goal of the night past the Lipscomb keeper to give the Mustangs a cushion. His two first-half goals netted the Dallas native his first multi-goal game of his SMU career.
Later in the first half, DJ Williams subbed in for the Mustangs and as the first half was winding to a close, the senior broke free from the Lipscomb (0-1-1) defense and rocketed a goal to give SMU a comfortable 3-0 lead heading into the break.
In the second half, both teams had multiple chances, but neither could convert, resulting in a season-opening 3-0 Mustangs victory.
Memphis 4, Campbell 0
The Memphis men's soccer team started the 2019 season with a comfortable 4-0 win against Campbell on Friday night. The exclamation point on the shutout came from the Tiger defense, which allowed zero shots from the visiting Camels.
Four Tigers scored on the evening, bookended with goals from senior defender Ben Roberts and freshman midfielder Jovan Prado.
Memphis finally put on the scoreboard off of a 34th minute strike. Artur De Luca, who subbed into the match just moments prior, launched a corner kick deep across the box. On the receiving end was Roberts, who connected on the header to give Memphis the first-half lead.
Senior midfielder Sam Ashton took a pass from transfer junior Christoforos Kourtis and fired it home to create some breathing room for the Tigers. Ashton provided pressure up top all evening, creating looks for the Tigers before earning his own.
Memphis added to the lead in the 57th minute, as freshman midfielder Brendan Dexter found a hole in the defense to feed Prado with his first collegiate goal, growing the lead to three. The combo marked the first points in both players' Tiger careers.
Not done there, Prado repaid the unselfish play on a two-for-one situation, dropping an absolute pocket-pass to Sangha, who finished into an empty net for the final score of the match.
Tulsa 1, Gonzaga 0
Charles Noyelle scored his first collegiate goal to give Tulsa a 1-0 win over Gonzaga on Friday night at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium. The Golden Hurricane moved to 1-0 on the season, while the Bulldogs fell to 0-1 overall.
Noyelle's goal came in the 14th minute as he scored off an assist from Adam Habi
Thomas Wells had a team-best three shots, while Noyelle added two attempts and five others had one shot. Bryson Reed played all 90 minutes in goal and picked up six saves for the shutout.
Gonzaga had a 12-10 lead in shots, including a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal, while Tulsa had a 7-4 lead in corner kicks.
Tulsa will return to action on Monday, September 2 against Lipscomb. Game time is set for 7:00 pm at the Hurricane Stadium.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
