Late Fernandes Goal Leads Men's Soccer to 1-1 Draw at Duquesne

Sunday, September 16

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7:00 P.M.

Temple University

2-4-1

Duquesne

1-3-1

OT 1

OT 2

Temple

Duquesne

Late Fernandes Goal Leads Men's Soccer to 1-1 Draw at Duquesne

9.16.18 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

PITTSBURGH – After an extremely physical Sunday night battle in Pittsburgh, the Temple men's soccer squad (2-4-1) drew a 1-1 tie against the Duquesne Dukes (1-3-1) in their fourth straight overtime battle of the season. After an early goal by Duquesne, the Owls fought relentlessly until the final whistle to notch an 86th minute equalizer to put them back in the game.

How It Happened
> The Owls were put to the test early, as Duquesne's Noah Mehta rocketed one of the first threatening shots of the game in the 11th minute. Mehta was able to capitalize on the opportunity, curling a shot from the left side past Temple goalie Michael Samnik to give the Dukes an early 1-0 lead.
> The early goal forced the Owls to fight for an equalizer for the remainder of regulation. Regardless, Temple had bursts of offensive pressure in both halves, tallying 11 shots and seven corners throughout the game.
> The crucial comeback goal came in the 86th minute of play, when junior Lukas Fernandes made a forward run and was able to control the ball on the right flank. Beating his defender, Fernandes ripped a shot to the near post, slipping it right past the Duquesne goalie to put the Owls on the board just before the end of regulation.
> The scrappy match was illustrated on the score sheet as Temple totaled 15 fouls to Duquesne's 21, with each team receiving two yellow cards over the 110 minutes of game action.
> Temple created multiple opportunities in both overtime periods but was unable to finish any chances. Although they could not score in extra time, the Owls showed resilience against a challenging Duquesne team and fought until the very end.

Game Notes
> Notching their fourth overtime game tonight means that over half of Temple's games this season have run longer than 90 minutes. The Owls have compiled a record of 1-2-1 in extra time this year.
> The four goals Temple has scored this season have each come from a different player, putting Fernandes tied with Jalen Campbell, Zach Brown and Justin Hahn for most goals on the team with one apiece.
> Along with the wide distribution of goal scorers, eight different Owls have now earned at least one point on the season, portraying the depth of the Temple roster.
> Samnik earned his second start of the season in net for the Owls, during which he saved five Duquesne shots to post a record of 1-0-1.

From the Coach
> "It wasn't the prettiest game we have played, but as I said to the team, we sure have a lot of fight in us," noted head coach Brian Rowland. "We have had to come back in a few games this season, but the guys have never quit. I am happy to have gotten through the last four overtime contests, now with a few days away from game competition to lead us into an important conference opener on Friday."

Up Next
The Owls will return home for just the second time this season on Friday, September 21 as they host UCF in their first conference battle of the year. The AAC match-up with start at 7:00 p.m. at the Temple Sports Complex, and admission is free for all who attend.