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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati men's soccer team shutout an opponent for the second time this week as it defeated the Temple Owls, 4-0, on Saturday night at Gettler Stadium.
With the win, UC improves to 8-4-1 overall including 3-1-0 in American Athletic Conference play. The Bearcats now have nine points in the conference standings which solidifies their status as second after beating USF and Temple who are third and fourth, respectively, and falling to UConn who is first. Temple drops to 8-5-1 on the season and 1-2-1 in the league. The Bearcats are unbeaten in eight of their last nine matches and are 4-1-1 in their last six.
After the two teams seemed to be feeling the other out in the first half with no scoring, UC provided all of the offensive punch in the second half with four goals by four different players. Junior Jack Clark (Mason, Ohio) got things started early in the half with what proved to be the match-winning goal. An insurance goal was added midway through the half when a foul was called on Temple in the box which set up a penalty kick from senior Nick Melville (Portland, Maine/Cheverus/Iowa Western) who fooled Temple's keeper for the Bearcats' second score. The floodgates opened thereafter as freshman Daniel Oginni (Mississauga, Ontario/King's Christian Collegiate) took a feed on the break and scored the team's third goal of the match with about 10 minutes left. Redshirt freshman Ryan Melink (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) joined the scoring party with just minutes remaining with a far post finish to complete the rout of the Owls.
// GOAL SCORING SUMMARY
49' - CIN Jack Clark (Adam Wilson)
Sophomore Adam Wilson (Auchterarder, Scotland/Dollar Academy) played the ball over the top of the defense, feeding Clark in the near side of the box. Clark gathered the ball and sent a shot that beat the keeper to the left side of the net for the first score of the match.
72' - CIN Nick Melville (PK)
Oginni drew a foul in the box. Melville was then chosen to shoot the penalty kick and sent the ball to the left side of net as the keeper dove opposite to give the Bearcats an insurance goal midway through the second half.
79' - CIN Daniel Oginni (Ryan Melink)
Oginni beat Temple's back line as Melink fed him on the break. The freshman went one-on-one versus the Owls goalkeeper Alex Cagle and sent a shot that deflected off Cagle and into the net.
84' - CIN Ryan Melink (Adam Wilson)
Wilson had the ball in the middle of the field on Temple's end and fed Melink who was unguarded down the near side. Melink took the ball into the box and blasted a shot to the far post to beat the keeper.
// MATCH NOTES
- UC scored four or more goals in a match for the first time since a 5-1 home win against Temple in 2014.
- Diaz had a season-best seven saves including one diving as Temple's Gomez Sanchez tried to curl the ball into the left side of the net from the near side late in the first half. The redshirt junior also posted his second shutout of the week and second of the season.
- Wilson dished out his fourth assist of the week with two on the night. The sophomore now has 10 total assists on the year which ranked second in the country coming into Saturday's match.
- Melville scored his first goal of the season, Clark added his second of the year, Oginni his third of 2016 and Melink his team-leading fifth. Melink has scored in back-to-back matches.
- Melville's conversion of the penalty kick was UC's first since Sept. 14, 2015 against IUPUI.
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will be back at Gettler Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 19, when they welcome Eastern Illinois in their final nonconference match of the season at 7 p.m. UC will be wearing custom-made red uniforms as part of the Under Armour ArmouRED series. It will also be Residence Hall Night at Gettler and hot chocolate will be sold for only $1 at the concession stand. Admission will complimentary, as it is all season long, as part of the Experience UC initiative. Fans unable to attend the match can stream it through BearcatsTV. A subscription is required to watch.