Men's Soccer Drops Conference Opener 2-0 to No. 12 UCF

Friday, September 27

Orlando, Fla.

7:00 PM

Temple University

2-5-0, 0-1-0

No. 12 UCF

6-1-1, 1-0-0

Temple

UCF

Men's Soccer Drops Conference Opener 2-0 to No. 12 UCF

9.27.19 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Temple men's soccer team (2-5, 0-1 AAC) dropped its conference opener to the No. 12 UCF Knights (6-1-1, 1-0 AAC) on Friday night in Orlando, Fla. The Owls battled the nationally ranked Knights throughout the first half despite going down just three minutes in, but momentum shifted in UCF's favor for the second 45 minutes of play.

How it Happened
> The Owls opened their conference slate with possession of the ball to work their way into UCF's defensive third early, but the nationally ranked Knights countered the opportunity to earn a corner kick just three minutes into game action. UCF capitalized on what ended up being its only shot on goal of the first half when Louis Perez stepped up to take the early corner. The All-American lofted the ball to the top of the six and found the head of Yoni Sorokin, who placed it on frame to give the Knights an early lead.
> Despite going down early, Temple was resilient and battled UCF in a back-and-forth possession match for the first 45 minutes of play. One of the first opportunities for the Owls came in the 20 th minute, when freshman Lior Nesher fired off a low-driven shot down the center from outside the 18, but UCF's Yannik Oettl got behind the play to make his first save of the match.
> Four minutes later, Temple kept the offensive pressure on and was rewarded a free kick just outside the goal box. Esteban Suarez stepped up to the ball and curled it into the penalty area towards multiple Cherry and White jerseys, but Oettl leaped up to deny the opportunity.
> The Knights responded to Temple's pressure with a counter attack that ultimately earned them a penalty kick opportunity after a hand ball was called in the box. Temple was saved by the post to keep the game within one point after UCF's Sorokin missed the opportunity.
> It was a tale of two halves for the Owls after UCF came out firing for the second 45 minutes of action. After entering into the locker room trailing the Knights in shots 4-7, UCF held the Cherry and White shotless in the second 45 minutes of play while firing off 10 shots themselves. Momentum shifted in UCF's favor after Temple was forced to play down a man for almost 40 minutes due to back-to-back yellow cards on Mickael Borger.
> UCF's intense offensive pressure was awarded in the 77th minute when Louis Perez dished out his second assist of the night, this time distributing to Jonas Schmalbach who slipped the ball past Simon Lefebvre to seal the victory for the Knights.

Game Notes
> Lefebvre came up huge for Temple in the second half, thwarting multiple threatening chances by the Knights in a half that saw the majority of play in Temple's defensive third. All six of Lefebvre's saves occurred in the second 45 minutes of game action.
> UCF attempted 13 corner kicks throughout the game, only capitalizing on its very first one of the night.
> The Knights outshot the Owls 17-4 overall and 10-0 in the second half. The teams matched with 11 fouls apiece and UCF put eight shots on goal to Temple's two.

Up Next
> The Cherry and White will return to the Temple Sports Complex on Tuesday, Oct. 1 to face the Old Dominion Monarchs. Kickoff for the non-conference match-up is set for 3:00 p.m.