Temple edge Villanova on Gomez Sanchez goal

Jorge Gomez Sanchez scored in the 22nd minute after being denied on a couple early chances to lead Temple to the 1-0 win over Villanova at the Temple Sports Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

The goal was the 11th of the season for Gomez Sanchez, putting him into a three-way tie at the top of the national scoring charts with Florida Gulf Coast’s Albert Ruiz and Buffalo’s Russell Cicerone. It also puts the senior from Spain two shy of his goal total from a year ago in his first season with the Owls.

The high-powered (and entertaining) Owls offense put the pressure on early with a couple dangerous chances from Gomez Sanchez and Joonas Jokinen but Villanova goalkeeper Will Steiner did well to keep out.

The breakthrough came on a long ball from Owls center back Brendan Creed that Gomez Sanchez beat Villanova central defender Shane Bradley to in a foot race. Steiner came off his line but was unable to deny the finish.

The shot was one of eight in the game for the senior forward and 19 for the team in the game. Villanova (6-4-1) didn’t register a shot until the 50th minute and Temple goalkeeper Alex Cagle wasn’t forced to make a save until the 73rd minute. The Wildcats had eight shots for the game with Eric Mckenna who filled in for Nikkye DePoint for the second straight game at center back and subsitute John Jlopleh each registered two shots.

Cagle finished with four saves for the match to record his third straight clean sheet and sixth of the season.

With the win, the Owls (7-3-1) improved to 6-0-1 in their new facility on North Broad Street and passed the 4,000 mark for total attendance for the year.

Drexel shut out for sixth straight game

Drexel’s scoring woes continued with a 2-0 shut out on the road Tuesday at Columbia.

Rhys Williams scored in the 34th minute for the home team and Francisco Agrest added an insurance goal in the 78th minute.

Tyler Afflerbach (Harleysville, Pa.) made four saves for the Dragons (1-8-2) and defenders Eden Ben Hemo and Ilai Shvika combined for five of the team’s eight shots in the game. Ben Hemo fired the only shot on target, which Dylan Castanheira saved to pick up the clean sheet.