Pataia's Game Winner Gives Men's Soccer a 1-0 Win at Temple

Friday, August 29

Ambler, Pa.

4:00 p.m.

Drexel University

1-0

Temple

0-1

OT 2

Drexel

Temple University

Photo by: Ryan Samson

Pataia's Game Winner Gives Men's Soccer a 1-0 Win at Temple

8/29/2014 6:36:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

AMBLER, Pa. - The season got off to a thrilling start for the Drexel men's soccer team on Friday afternoon as the Dragons visited nearby rival Temple and pulled out a 1-0 victory in overtime when Michele Pataia scored just 2:31 into extra time. Pataia, a senior, provided five shots on the afternoon but made his first attempt on net count as he beat Temple goalkeeper Dan Scheck to the back post to provide the margin and send the Dragons back down into University City as winners.

The victory was the Dragons' first in a season opener since 2010. They opened that season with four straight victories.

Drexel and Temple were scoreless until Pataia's goal after two of the city's top defenses from 2013 picked up right where they left off. Sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Afflerbach, who had six shutouts in his rookie campaign as the Dragons won a second-striaght Colonial Athletic Association title, stopped five shots on his way to another shutout. Four of those came in the first half as the Owls peppered Drexel's net attempting to build an early edge. The victory avenged a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Owls at Vidas Field last season.

Temple outshot the Dragons 9-5 in the first half, putting four shots on goal while the Dragons did not test Scheck. Jared Martinelli, the Owls' leading scorer in each of his first two collegiate seasons, powered two shots in on Afflerbach in just over a minute as the Dragons' keeper stood tall. Those shots were sandwiched around a try off the foot of Olli Tynkkynen which Afflerbach also deflected away in the midst of the Owls' furious charge.

That would be the only sustained charge by the Owls as Drexel's defense stepped up in the second half. Temple managed just four shots total in the final 47:31 of the contest, getting just one more shot in on Afflerbach. Drexel, meanwhile, stepped up the pressure with seven second-half shots. John Grosh, Joaquin del Rosario and Guido Pena each made bids to give the Dragons the lead, but Scheck managed to turn each aside.

Now one of the Dragons' senior leaders and a preseason selection to the All-CAA team, Pataia stepped up just a few minutes into extra time. The Dragons gained control when Connor Goldsmith fed the ball through the back line to del Rosario. del Rosario, who had four points on two goals in 2013, fed Pataia with a back heel cross from the middle of the top of the box. Streaking upfield, Pataia got behind the defense and gained control 10 feet from the net. He finished, beating Scheck and giving the Dragons the season-opening victory.

Drexel's win gets the team off to a strong start in an early-season schedule heavy with local opponents. The Dragons will play four of their first five games against Philadelphia Soccer Six foes. Next up will be Villanova in the first of two official Soccer Six league matches. That will kick off Tuesday evening at Vidas Field at 7:00 p.m.