Men's Soccer Ties Northeastern 1-1 in Double Overtime

Sunday, August 30

Boston, Mass.

2:00 p.m.

Temple University

1-0-1

Northeastern

0-0-1

OT 3

OT 4

Temple

Northeastern

Photo by: Wendy Badman

Men's Soccer Ties Northeastern 1-1 in Double Overtime

8.30.15 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

BROOKLINE, Mass. – After its second double overtime match of the weekend, Temple men's soccer ended a match against the Northeastern Huskies in a 1-1 draw this afternoon at Parsons Field.

With this draw, the Owls return to Philadelphia with a 1-0-1 record to open the season. The Owls' lone goal came from freshman Jordan Wix-Rauch who knocked in a loose ball off a sliding tackle from Jorge Gomez Sanchez who was able to pull the Huskies' goalie out of the net in the 44th minute. This is the first career goal for Wix-Rauch.

"It was a tough game. After playing an overtime game Friday we hung in there and battled back," said head coach David MacWilliams. "I was very pleased with the effort and character of this team."

The Huskies played a strong match, with Frantzdy Pierrot, the 2014 CAA Rookie of the Year, scoring their solo goal in the 19th minute. The Owls battled to break down the Huskies' defense throughout the first half, where they only recorded two shots on goal to Northeastern's five. Goalkeeper Alex Cagle played all 110 minutes, recording two saves and keeping 15 of the Huskies' 16 shots out of the net.

"Cagle had a shutout the first game and let up one goal this game. He's done a very good job for the first time [as a starter]," said MacWilliams. "As we go on I think his confidence will grow and he'll be a very good player for us."

Many good chances were earned by the Owls in the second half. Freshman Hermann Doerner worked the ball out wide in the 39th minute to serve to Gomez Sanchez whose shot skimmed by the left side post. Dinho Zwane set up a close goal-scoring attempt by serving a corner that was taken just wide of the near post. Zwane later took a left-footed shot off a pass from Matt Mahoney that also skimmed by the left post near the end of the second half.

The Owls' defense stood strong against an aggressive Husky offense, which garnered four consecutive corners in the 57th minute that were fought off by Owl defenders and Cagle, who registered an impressive diving save in the corner series off a strong header from Northeastern's Ackim Mpofu.

"Our defense really played well. Brendon Creed and Carlos Moros Gracia had very good weekends," said MacWilliams. "Those two guys stood out today for us."

With the 20 minutes of overtime play producing no goals from either team, the Owls record their first draw of the season and remain unbeaten through both preseason exhibition matches and their first two regular season match-ups.

Coach MacWilliams is confident in his team moving forward. "They fight for one another and play for one another," he said. "I think they are a very determined group."

The Owls head home to prepare for this Friday's match against #23 Penn State at the Ambler Sports Complex. Kick-off for the Owls is set for 4:30 p.m.