After shutting out St. Joeseph's, 3-0, in its Atlantic-10 opener on Saturday, Temple (2-4-1) comes to Charlottesville tonight hungry for its first back-to-back wins when it faces the undefeated No. 2 Virginia men's soccer team.
Virginia is a tough non-conference foe for the unproven Owls. The Cavaliers recorded a 2-0 shutout victory over N.C. State on Sunday to boost their record to 7-0-1.
Virginia scored early and never looked back Sunday on goals by Jonathan Cole and Jacob LeBlanc. Virginia goalkeeper David Comfort had a strong game and posted his fourth consecutive shutout. It was a satisfying win for the Cavaliers, who are not looking too far forward to future opponents.
"I'll look ahead to them" later, Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said about Temple after Sunday's win. "Right now, I'm just going to try and enjoy this one."
Virginia had better be ready, though, because its opponents are itching to knock off such a high-ranked team. The Cavaliers understand that they are marked men.
"Yeah, I just feel like this is going to be the season where everybody is going to be hunting for us," LeBlanc said. "But we have such good attackers that we're going to be hunting everybody else."
With an offense that scores in spades and a defense that refuses to allow a goal, Virginia is playing like a well-oiled machine running on all cylinders. But each game still requires proper preparation, and Virginia's players are unsure how they will match up against Temple.
"I don't know what to expect," LeBlanc said. "Every game's a game when somebody's playing Virginia. We just want to come out and give our best and hopefully put another 'W' on the board."
|
No one really knows what to expect from a Temple team that graduated only two letterwinners and has had strong contributions from freshmen Nate Webb, Steven Wacker and Vinny Mountney. Webb, Wacker and Mountney combined for two goals, one assist, and nine shots on net in the Owls' win over St. Joseph's. Temple coach Dave MacWilliams is another recent addition to the program. He is in only his second year at the helm.
Meanwhile, Virginia continues to worry about the health of its two leading scorers. Alecko Eskandarian is still bothered by a groin injury, and Ryan Gibbs, who assisted on LeBlanc's goal Sunday, appeared to hurt his shoulder against N.C. State.
Read More
No. 2 men’s tennis advances to NCAA Round of 16
By Victoria Blankenship | 16 hours agoVirginia is once again headed back to the Round of 16, with all eyes on a championship defense.
Men’s basketball adds four transfers in three days
By Ben Istvan | 16 hours agoThe additions of Warley, Power, Saunders and Lang are building excitement about the future in Charlottesville.
No. 4 seed Virginia falls to No. 1 seed Notre Dame 18-9 in ACC Tournament semifinals
By Cole Huff | 2 days agoThe massacre made last weekend's near dethroning of the Fighting Irish seem like a fantasy.
