Women’s Soccer Downs Tulsa 1-0 Behind Druehl’s First Career Goal

Thursday, October 18

Temple Sports Complex

3:30 P.M.

Temple University

7-8-1

Tulsa

6-9-1

Tulsa

Temple University

Photo by: Nguyen Ho

Women’s Soccer Downs Tulsa 1-0 Behind Druehl’s First Career Goal

10.18.18 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA— Temple women's soccer (7-8-1, 3-3-1 AAC) defeated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-9-1, 2-5 AAC) 1-0 on Thursday afternoon. Natalie Druehl's goal early in the first half propelled the Owls to victory.

Keys to the Match
> Druehl netted the only goal of the contest in the 10th minute. Sarah McGlinn brought the ball up the left flank and found Gabriela Johnson in the box. Johnson found Druehl well-positioned at the top of the box, who struck the ball and rocketed it into the goal. This marked Druehl's first career goal for the Cherry and White and was the game-winner.
> The Owls' defense had a significant impact on the match's outcome. The backline, along with goalkeeper Morgan Basileo and midfielders Julia Dolan and Druehl were pivotal in keeping the Golden Hurricane off the scoresheet. Tulsa registered 14 shots and 12 corners, but Temple executed their game plan and limited the Golden Hurricane's viable chances.

Match Notes
> The organization and tenacity of the Owls' defense was on display throughout the contest, and it was clearly illustrated in the 19th minute. Tulsa's Neha Igwe forced her way into the box with the aim to take a shot on goal. Emily Keitel and Aisha Brown had other plans, closing in on Igwe and earning a Tulsa foul to allow Temple to regain possession.
> One of the Golden Hurricane's strengths is set pieces. Temple honed in on this and the results were evident. In the second half, Tulsa had back-to-back corners in the 53rd minute and again in the 71st. They also had three in a row between the 61st and 62nd minutes. The Owls thwarted all of these attempts, keeping the Golden Hurricane scoreless.
> The squad had several threatening opportunities to add to their lead. In the 20th minute, Druehl looked to add a second goal under her name to the scoresheet. She rocketed another shot from the top of the box, but it landed wide left of the post. Marissa DiGenova connected with Jules Blank in the middle of the box in the 33rd minute. Blank's ball found Johnson a few yards from the goal, whose shot hit the left post. Blank had two strong back-to-back chances in the 53rd and 54th minutes. She beat her defenders and had solid looks on goal, but her attempts went just wide. Another dangerous shot came off the boot of Johnson. In the 65th minute, she got free in the box and fired from 10 yards out, but the keeper made a great save.
> Temple held it's opponent scoreless for the sixth time this season. Basileo has recorded a win in each of Temple's shutouts.
> With this victory, the Owls improve their home record to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in AAC play. They also evened up the all-time series with Tulsa to 2-2-1.

Quotable
> "We talked about starting on the front foot," said head coach Seamus O'Connor. "We came out with an aggressive game plan and tried to get at it as much as possible. To take the lead that early was great. It was something we talked about: don't play not to lose, play to win."

> Regarding Druehl's game-winner, O'Connor said, "She just struck it beautifully. It was something that David [Hodgson] and Paula [Jurewicz] worked on yesterday with the team, those shots from distance. Natalie stepped up and executed."

Next Up
> Temple will host No. 22 Memphis for Senior Day on Sunday, Oct. 21. The Owls will take on the Tigers at 1 p.m. at the Temple Sports Complex.