PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's men's soccer squad opens the 2015 Atlantic 10 portion of its schedule this Saturday, October 3 when the Hawks host Massachusetts (1-9-0) at 7:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field. Picked to finish 10th in the conference, the Hawks enter league play with a 2-7-1 non-conference record. After dropping their first four matches of the season, Saint Joseph's has put together a 2-3-1 record in its last six outings with 3-2 double-overtime home victories over LIU Brooklyn and Howard and a scoreless draw with Drexel.
Live streaming of Saturday's match will be made available on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network via a subscription, with Steven Saladino and Jon White on the call.
The Hawks are 2-2 at home this season, with the first three matches having been decided by a final score of 3-2, including an overtime loss in SJU's season opener to Marist and back-to-back 3-2 double-overtime victories over LIU Brooklyn and Howard. Saint Joseph's is coming off of a 3-0 home loss vs. Penn on Tuesday evening; the Hawks played the Quakers scoreless through the first 63:50 before Penn netted three goals over a span of 24:59.
Senior forward Emmanuel Temeh leads the Hawks in scoring with nine points on four goals and one assist while senior midfielder Tim Lazorko (1G, 1A) and junior midfielder Sam Irvin (1G, 1A) sport three points apiece. Junior midfielder Bliss Harris and freshman forward Derek MacKinnon have dished out two assists each. Sophomore goalkeeper Bobby Edwards (1-4-1) sports a 1.95 goals against average and .667 save percentage in 644:47 while junior goalkeeper Jay Higbee (1-3-0) owns a 2.60 GAA and .690 save percentage in 311:50, including all 107:35 in SJU's most recent victory over Howard.
Three Hawks have earned all 10 starts thus far in Harris, Irvin, and junior midfielder Eric Jordan. Additionally, Temeh, junior forward Mori Diane, sophomore midfielder Mike Akinkoye, and freshman midfielder Heriberto Sevilla have made all 10 appearances. SJU's starting line-up on the attack has remained consistent over the last four matches with Temeh, MacKinnon, Jordan, Akinkoye, Irvin, and sophomore midfielder Matt Crawford while the back line of Harris, junior Mike Stuski, freshman Eddie McCusker and a mix of redshirt sophomore Ted Foley and sophomore Tom Santilli has been utilized. Edwards started three of the last four in net.
Saint Joseph's is 5-17-2 all-time vs. UMass and 1-2 under the direction of head coach Don D'Ambra. The Hawks scored in the 86th minute to defeat the Minutemen, 1-0, in Amherst last season; Temeh earned the match-winning assist while Edwards made three saves in what was then his fourth career shutout. The victory marked the first time since 2007 that the Hawks had won their season opener.
The Minutemen dropped six consecutive matches to Utah Valley (1-0 OT), Saint Peter's (3-0), Columbia (1-0), Central Connecticut (5-1), Albany (4-0), and Boston University (2-1) before taking home a 2-1 victory over Hartford on September 16. UMass has gone 0-3 since that win with losses to New Hampshire (1-0), Vermont (3-0), and, most recently, Brown (2-1).
Ty Goncalves (1G, 1A) and Alex DeSantis (3A) lead UMass in scoring with three point apiece while Lenoir Sery, Kevin Boino, Samuel Asamoah, and Matthew Mooney have also scored for the Minutemen. Bardia Asefnia (1-7-0) owns a 2.24 goals against average and .646 save percentage in 684:14 while Jorge Becerra (0-2-0) sports a 2.40 goals against average and .600 save percentage in 225:00, including the last 90:00 vs. Brown.
CAMPER APPRECIATION NIGHT: The Hawks would like to welcome all 2015 campers to participate in Camper Appreciation Night this Saturday. All 2015 SJU Hawks Summer Camp participants will be welcomed to participate in the pre-game player introductions. In addition, campers will be brought onto the field at halftime, greeted by the SJU Hawk Mascot, acknowledged, and brought together for a large camp group photo. For more information and/or to RSVP for the event, click here.
