College soccer week eight preview

After running up a 6-0-1 record in the friendly confines of their new home on North Broad Street, Temple will get two chances to improve their road and conference record in week eight of the college soccer season.

The first will be a long road trip to Dallas to face conference foe SMU at 8 p.m. on Saturday. The Mustangs have struggled this season with an 0-2-0 start to conference play and a 4-7-0 record after winning the conference regular season title last year. After returning from Texas, the Owls will hit the road again for a Tuesday night match with Ivy Leage foe Columbia.

Villanova, La Salle and Saint Joseph’s will also be on the road Saturday. Villanova faces Big East foe Providence, La Salle travels to Rhode Island and Saint Joe’s will look to go 3-0-0 in Atlantic 10 play with a trip to George Mason.

Drexel was originally slated to travel Saturday to face College of Charleston, but the game has been postponed because of Hurricane Matthew. The Dragons will face a tough task to get their offense and season back on track after six straight shutouts on the road against conference power Hofstra on Tuesday night.

Delaware has only one game this week on the road at James Madison, but it could be a historic one as senior forward Guillermo Delgado is now only two goals behind the program record 47 set by Michael Biggs in 1968-70.

Nationally, few teams will have as tough a week as ninth-ranked Butler and eighth-ranked Louisville.

Butler faces 10th-ranked Creighton in Omaha tonight and returns home to Indianapolis to take on No. 7 Denver three nights later. Denver is 9-0-2 this season and has not lost a regular season game since October 31, 2014.

Louisville hosts a third-ranked Syracuse team tonight that is fresh off a shocking upset by in-state rival Albany and welcomes No. 6 Indiana to Lynn Stadium on Tuesday night. Syracuse is facing a top 10 opponent for the third straight week after losing to Notre Dame on September 23 and playing to a scoreless draw against North Carolina last Friday. Such is life though in a conference with five teams in the top 10 and two others in the top 25.

Saturday, October 8
Temple at SMU, 8 p.m. (Live Stream)
Villanova at Providence, 1 p.m. (FOX Sports GO)
La Salle at Rhode Island, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)
Saint Joseph’s at George Mason, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)
Lafayette vs American, 1 p.m. (Live Stream)
Princeton vs Brown, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)
Penn vs Columbia, 7:30 p.m. (Live Stream)
Rider vs Siena, 1 p.m. (Live Stream)
Lehigh vs Army West Point, 7 p.m (Live Stream)

Tuesday, October 11
Temple at Columbia, 7:30 p.m. (Live Stats)
Princeton at Rutgers, 7 p.m. (BTN Plus)

Wednesday, October 12
Saint Joseph’s vs Davidson, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)
Lafayette vs NJIT, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)
Drexel at Hofstra, 7 p.m. (Live Stats)
Delaware at James Madison, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)
La Salle at VCU, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)
Rider at Manhattan, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)

National Games

Today
No. 10 Creighton vs No. 9 Butler, 8:05 p.m. (FOX Sports GO)
No. 4 North Carolina vs Virginia, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
No. 8 Louisville vs No. 3 Syracuse, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)

Saturday, October 8
No. 2 Notre Dame vs No. 11 Wake Forest, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
No. 19 UCLA at No. 13 San Diego State, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)

Monday, October 10
No. 1 Maryland at No. 24 West Virginia, 7 p.m. (Live Stream)
No. 9 Butler vs No. 7 Denver, 7 p.m. (Live Stats)

Tuesday, October 11
No. 5 Clemson vs No. 17 Charlotte, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
No. 8 Louisville vs No. 6 Indiana, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
No. 21 Michigan State vs No. 23 Akron. 4 p.m. (Live Stats)