Men's Soccer Falls 1-0 to Penn Despite Dominant First Half

Saturday, September 21

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 PM

Temple University

2-4-0, 0-0-0

Penn

3-1-1, 0-0-0

Temple

Penn

Men's Soccer Falls 1-0 to Penn Despite Dominant First Half

9.21.19 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – The Temple men's soccer team (2-4) dropped a tough decision to the Penn Quakers (3-1-1) on Friday night at Rhodes Field. A strong first half presented the Owls as the dominant team, but a second-half goal for the Quakers handed Temple their fourth loss of the season.

How it Happened
> Temple opened the match strong with consistent control of possession in Penn's defensive third. Despite the high pressure, the Owls were unable to generate a truly threatening opportunity until the 21st minute when sophomore Mickael Borger sent a low-driven shot just left of frame. A common theme throughout the first half, the scoring opportunity was set up by momentum build from the back line to a slew of one-touch passes between the Temple midfield.
> The Owls nearly took the first-half lead in the 34th minute when freshman Sean Karani was tripped up on a breakaway to halt a Temple counter attack. Esteban Suarez got behind the ball for the central free kick, lofting a ball into the six yard box and finding the head of a charging Borger. The sophomore defender headed the ball into the back of the net, but was ultimately called offsides.
> After closing out the first 45 minutes of action with full momentum of play, the Cherry and White came out of the locker room hungry for a goal. Within two minutes of the second half, the Owls pushed forward and found Suarez in the corner. The left back sent a dangerous ball into the 18, but Penn's goalie, Dane Jacomen, stepped forward to intercept the cross.
> Despite the Owls dominating possession, Penn capitalized on one of its first chances of the game in the 54th minute. With both teams scrambling in Temple's goal box, junior Joey Bhangdia slipped a right-footed cross towards frame that trickled through the action and rolled into the left pocket of net.
> Ball-control didn't stagger for the Owls as they nearly found the equalizer in the 65th minute. Swinging the ball to the right flank, the squad set Fernandes up for another strong chance on net. The senior captain drove a low shot on frame, but Jacomen made the diving save to keep the Quakers up by one. Temple fought hard until the final whistle but was unable to break through the tough Penn backline.

Game Notes
> The Temple midfield shined in today's match, allowing the squad to maintain possession by dominating the center of the pitch.
> The box score presented the even-keeled game as the Owls out-shot the Quakers 9-8, with each team putting four on goal. The squads were also deadlocked at 13 fouls apiece.
> Simon Lefebvre earned three saves on the night, including a diving deflection to block a hard-driven shot from Penn's Ben Stitz. The senior goalkeeper now has 16 saves on the year.

Up Next
> The Owls will open up conference play on Friday, Sept. 27 when they head to Orlando, Fla. to take on the No. 13 UCF Knights. Kickoff for Temple's first American Athletic Conference contest of the year is set for 7 pm.