Men's College Soccer
Temple University 2, Rider University 1
Drexel Invitational
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.--If college soccer played 40 minutes halves, Rider would have won 1-0 Friday. But two Temple goals, scored in the final minutes of each half, gave the Owls a victory over the Broncs in the first round of the Drexel Invitational Soccer Tournament Friday. “We just didn't mark up well enough on both of the goals,” said Rider head coach Russ Fager. “Both of them could have been prevented and we didn't do a good enough job doing that.”
Rider (0-2) took a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute of play on a goal by sophomore Kevin Juska (Wall). Junior Anthony Gilbert (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks South) made a perfect crossing pass into the box. The ball ricocheted off of several players before Juska scored the first Bronc goal of the season and the second of his career.
“Gilbert crossed it over my head, it hit off of a few bodies and I was there and I just put it in the side of the net,” Juska said “It felt good to go up a goal. We were trying hard to get a win today.”
“Juska did a good job for us today,” Fager said. “I thought he played very well. We need others to step up and play as hard as he does.”
Last year as a rookie Juska played in just six games, but most came toward the end of the season and he even scored a goal against Manhattan. “Kevin grew tremendously as the season went on last year,” Fager said. “During the spring and summer he worked to get himself stronger and fitter.”
“I put a lot of effort into the summer (workouts) after working hard in the spring,” Juska said.
The Broncs are playing this season without their team captain and leading scorer from last year, junior Mike Juska (Wall). “Whenever you lose a good player, a captain, it definitely hurts,” Kevin Juska said. “We have to overcome that.”
The Broncs lost a captain and leading soccer for the season, but Kevin lost his brother. “We've been playing forever, so this is definitely different,” Kevin said.
Temple (1-1-1) scored the game-winner with just 2:57 remaining in the second half on a header from 10 yards out. The Owls tied the score on a header with just 2:02 left in the first half.
Junior Randall Zapolski (Lawrence) made three saves in the Rider goal. “Zapolski did okay for himself,” Fager said. “He did what he was supposed to do.”
Temple out-shot Rider 15-9. “We're not getting the quality changes we need,” Fager said. “We're spending too much time defending. I felt Bertel (sophomore Cam Bertel of Manheim Twp., Pa.), Ock (senior Mark Ockenhouse of Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East), Lee (senior Lee Tomasso of Westfield) and Evan (junior Evan Lubcher of East Brunswick) worked very hard.”
Rider plays host Drexel Sunday at 3:00 pm. “We have to step it up Sunday,” Juska said. “Drexel is a good team. They just beat a ranked Lehigh team. This will be a good test for us.”
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