Men's Soccer Snaps Memphis' 6-Game Win Streak in 2-1 OT Victory

Saturday, October 12

Memphis, Tenn.

8:00 PM

Temple University

4-6-1, 1-1-1

Memphis

8-3-0, 2-1-0

Temple

Memphis

Men's Soccer Snaps Memphis' 6-Game Win Streak in 2-1 OT Victory

10.12.19 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Temple men's soccer team (4-6-1, 1-1-1 AAC) downed RV Memphis (8-3, 2-1-0 AAC) in the 106th minute to secure its first American Athletic Conference victory of the season. The Owls snapped a six-game win streak by the Tigers after a Sean Karani equalizer in the 25th minute in response to an early Memphis goal sent the squads into overtime. Outshooting the Tigers 4-1 in extra time, Temple's pressure paid off when Elias Hellgren Villegas buried the game-winner in the 106 th minute of play to lift the Owls to victory.

How it Happened
> The AAC foes battled in a possession deadlock to start the game as there was just one shot in the first 12 minutes of play. Memphis fired first when Meliek Howell collected a lofted free kick and sent a shot flying over the crossbar. The shot earned the Tigers their first corner kick of the match, but the Temple defense cleared it to safety.
> Memphis earned its second corner just four minutes later, this time capitalizing on the set piece to take the early 1-0 lead. Kourtis Christoforos got behind the ball and sent an inswinging corner into the six yard box, where Ford Hunt capitalized on a Temple miscue and buried his first goal of the season.
> Temple's first scoring opportunity came in the 23rd minute when Karani displayed his quick footwork to beat two Memphis defenders and slot the ball back to the PK spot. The cross was cleared by the Tigers to give Temple its first corner of the game, but the Memphis defense denied the back-to-back chances and reset for a goal kick.
> Outshooting the Tigers 4-3 at this stage of the game, Temple kept the offensive pressure on and capitalized on a breakaway to even the score in the 25th minute. Sophomore Andres Charles fed the ball to Karani in the center of the field, who caught the Memphis keeper off his line and rocketed a powerful shot on frame from over 20 yards out to bury his statement first goal in Cherry and White.
> Entering the pitch for the second half, Memphis was forced to play with 10 men for the remainder of the game after being issued a red card in the 45th minute. The Owls saw the advantage and tested the man-down Tigers early to earn a free kick in the 47th minute near the corner flag. Esteban Suarez lofted the ball inside the 18 where freshman Lior Nesher collected it to fire off a shot, but the chance was blocked by a Memphis defender.
> Temple forced pressure on the Tigers throughout the entire second half, ultimately outshooting Memphis 9-2 in the second 45 minutes of play. One of their best chances came off a corner kick in the 83rd minute when junior captain Pierre Cayet put a shot towards goal that was blocked by a Memphis defender. Sophomore Mickael Borger collected the rebound and aimed for an open net but his shot ricocheted wide to keep the score even.
> After a scoreless first overtime period that had the Owls outshooting the Tigers 3-0, Temple continued to press until the threatening opportunities paid off. Hellgren Villegas was the hero for the Cherry and White, finding the back of the net with less than four minutes left in the game to earn the squad its first AAC victory. Freshman Amir Cohen worked the ball up the right flank and sent it into traffic, where Hellgren Villegas got on the end of it and put it away for his first goal of the season.

Game Notes
> Karani's first-ever goal as an Owl makes him the second freshman to score for the Cherry and White this season, joining fellow rookie Cohen on the scoresheet.
> Senior goalkeeper Simon Lefebvre has not made a save now for three straight games, as all three opponents the Owls have faced have scored on just one shot on goal throughout the game. This illustrates the tenacity of the Temple backline that continues to shut down its challenging opponents.
> Temple outshot the Tigers 18-8, putting four on target to Memphis' 1. The Owls also held the advantage in corner kicks, 8-6.

From the Coach
> "We showed resilience to come back after giving up an early goal," said head coach Brian Rowland. "We found a good goal to get ourselves back in the game and I thought from there we played very well. We were in control of the game and the red card was certainly a big factor, and from there the game became tricky. They had numbers deep and defended well, and we did a good job of trying to break them down. I'm very proud of the guys and happy that we were able to find a break-through."

Up Next
> The Owls will return to the Temple Sports Complex on Friday, Oct. 18 to host USF. The conference match-up is set for 7 p.m.