Women’s Soccer Downs UMBC 3-1 on the Road

Thursday, August 29

Baltimore, Md.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

1-1-0,0-0-0

UMBC

0-1-2,0-0-0

Temple

UMBC

Women’s Soccer Downs UMBC 3-1 on the Road

8.29.19 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Season Stats

BALTIMORE, Md.—Temple women's soccer (1-1, 0-0 AAC) displayed a full team effort on the road against UMBC (0-1-2) on Thursday night, defeating the Retrievers 3-1 to earn their first win of the season. The Owls put three goals on the board, with Morgan Morocco, Emma Wilkins and Bella Sorrentino finding the back of the net.

How it Happened
> From the starting whistle, Temple had the UMBC defense on its heels. In the 11th minute, senior Hannah Alexander picked off a UMBC pass and found herself one-on-one with her defender. She launched a shot, but it did not have enough pace to get past the goalie.
> In the 15th minute, sophomore Gabriela Johnson charged up the right flank with a head of steam and fired a shot on frame. The UMBC keeper was well-positioned and stopped the attempt.
> The Owls' first goal of the 2019 season came 19 minutes into the game when Morocco controlled a pass from Johnson and buried it in the back of the net to put Temple up, 1-0.
> Six minutes later, sophomore Wilkins gave the Cherry and White a two goal advantage. Wilkins poked the ball away from UMBC and rocketed a shot across the goalie to earn her first two points of the year.
> Senior goalie Morgan Basileo was key for the Owls on Thursday night. In the 32nd minute of play, she made a big save to thwart a threatening offensive opportunity for UMBC.
> UMBC picked up the offensive pressure in the second half after falling to a 2-0 deficit. Basileo and the Temple back line was up for the challenge. In the 61^st minute, Basileo made a sliding save to extinguish a UMBC goal-scoring chance.
> The Retrievers scored their sole goal of the evening off a penalty kick in the 61st minute.
> With nine minutes left in the match, freshman Madison Bee made a smart play in the attacking third to earn Temple a corner kick. Junior Marissa DiGenova served a beautiful ball into the box and found junior Sorrentino. Sorrentino headed the ball into the back of the net to score her the first goal of her collegiate career and give the Owls a 3-1 lead.

Match Notes
> Basileo notched 6 saves against the Retrievers, stepping up and making several huge plays to keep the Owls out in front of the Retrievers. This brings her season total to 16 saves through two games.
> In the first half of action, Temple recorded six shots, five of which were on frame. The team finished the match with 10 shots, eight on goal. Six different Owls had looks on goal.
> The Owls rebounded from being shut out against No. 23 Wake Forest last week, scoring three goals against UMBC tonight.

From Coach O'Connor
> "I thought Morgan Basileo was outstanding," said O'Connor. "She had some huge saves for us. We had an outstanding first half and absolutely dominated. We had two quality goals from Morgan Morocco and Emma Wilkins in the first half and Bella Sorrentino converted a set piece off the corner toward the end of the game, so we were very happy with that."
> "In the second half, UMBC did a great job of testing us," said O'Connor. "Bella played very well and Morgan Morocco was great. As a team we set the tone and were very competitive. We put UMBC on their back foot in the first half. They made some adjustments in the second half, but we were able to hold them off and play our way out of it."

Next Up
> Temple will wrap up its three-game road stretch on Sunday, Sept. 1 at Sacred Heart. The Owls will take on the Pioneers at 12 p.m.