PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Lafayette men's soccer traveled to Temple on Tuesday night, but the hosts escaped with a narrow 1-0 victory. Adrian Panaite scored the contest's lone goal in the 44^th minute, which was assisted by Teo Strand.

Senior goalkeeper Eric Axtman was called into action within the first minute of the match, but a tame effort from the Owls caused him no early trouble. Sophomore forward Riley Martin was making a run in behind Temple's back line around the five-minute mark, but his first touch evaded him.

The hosts began to settle in and created their first dangerous chance in the 11^th minute. A Lafayette player gave away possession near midfield before Elliot Rigbert picked up the ball. The forward noticed teammate Charlie Votel striding into the box and played him through. Votel struck the ball first time, which required a big palm from Axtman to keep the Owls off the board.

Moments later, Aiden O'Sullivan worked his way into a prime shooting area, but he was unable to pick out a corner and Axtman collected comfortably. The Harrisburg, Pa. native's four saves all came in the first half. Temple excelled in building out of the back in the first half, creating numerous chances with 15 minutes to go. Axtman came to the Leopards' rescue again in the 32^nd minute, but Diego Dauzier made his impact on the half in the 41^st minute.

Senior defender Nicholas Liebich was battling for position in Temple's penalty area and was brought down as a corner was swung in. The referee's on-field decision was a spot kick, but he quickly opted to go to video review. After the penalty was confirmed, junior Samir Dishnica took on the responsibility for Lafayette, but his effort was saved by Dauzier down to his left.

Four minutes later Temple broke the deadlock. The hosts had possession near midfield prior to a string of passes that gave Teo Stand some room to work. The midfielder worked his way to the by line and squared a ball into the box that found the feet of Adrian Panaite. The forward required two touches to create some shooting space before finding the bottom left corner. After 45 minutes, Temple maintained a 1-0 lead.

Freshman Tommy Clark won Lafayette a free kick in a dangerous position five minutes into the second period. Dishnica stood over the ball from 25 yards out, but his left-footed strike just whizzed over the crossbar. The rain in Philadelphia began to pick up with 30 minutes to go, making it more and more difficult for each team to execute the fundamentals. Temple made back-to-back mistakes in its defensive third with just over 22 minutes to go, but the Maroon and White struggled to find the final pass to cut into the Owls' lead.

The Leopards freshened their attacking options as time wore down, but maintained possession by Temple guided it to its first win of 2025.

Lafayette looks to bounce back in its next game on Saturday, as it returns to conference action with a 4 p.m. kickoff at Holy Cross.
 

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