PHILADELPHIA – Winners of back-to-back matches entering the weekend, the Saint Joseph's men's soccer squad (2-3-0, 0-1-0 Philadelphia Soccer Six) returns home to host a pair of non-conference opponents over the next four days.
SJU will first host Navy (1-3-1) this Saturday, September 17. Opening kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field. The Midshipmen dropped back-to-back matches to Villanova, 2-1, and most recently, George Washington, 1-0, this past Sunday. Navy has won all seven meetings in the history of the series.
On Tuesday, September 20, Saint Joseph's will host Villanova (3-2-0, 0-0-0 Soccer Six) in a Philadelphia Soccer Six match-up scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field. Villanova owns a 21-17-2 all-time series edge. After opening the season with a pair of losses to Rider and Harvard, the Wildcats won three consecutive matches vs. Boston College, Navy, and, most recently, Delaware this past Sunday, all by final scores of 2-1. Villanova will host Butler on Saturday before heading to Hawk Hill.
Live streaming of both matches will be made available via a subscription to the Atlantic 10 Network. To register, please click here.
After starting the season with losses to Temple, Northeastern, and Pittsburgh, the Hawks put together a pair of victories in large part due to the individual performances of junior goalkeeper Greg O'Connell and junior midfielder Matt Crawford, in addition to a defensive unit that backstopped the Crimson and Gray to back-to-back shutouts in 1-0 road victories at Howard and Hartford. O'Connell made a combined five saves while Crawford scored the match-winner (6') at Howard and assisted on senior forward Mori Diane's match-winner (63') at Hartford.
Led by senior captains Bliss Harris and Mike Stuski, SJU returns 19 Hawks, including nine starters and its entire defensive core, and sports a roster of seven seniors, eight juniors, four sophomores, and nine newcomers this fall.
