A Year of Perseverance: 2021 Men’s Soccer Recap

Photo by: Peter Hou

A Year of Perseverance: 2021 Men’s Soccer Recap

11.20.21 | Men's Soccer

PHILADELPHIA- In his fourth year leading the program, the third true fall season, head coach Brian Rowland led the 2021 Temple Owls men's soccer team through a year of trials and tribulations. Despite weathering many high-profile injuries, the team competed, persevered, and did not quit.

Prior to the season, 2020-21 first-team All-Conference and 2021 preseason All-Conference selection Sean Karani and projected starting senior Santiago Majewski both suffered season-ending lower-body injuries.
The squad began the 2021 season with two draws against top-level competition. The Owls opened up the season with a 0-0 draw against the then-No. 10 ranked Seton Hall Pirates in front of a packed crowd on the road. This continues a long-standing tradition under Rowland of playing up to high-level competition.
Temple kept the good times rolling with another 0-0 draw on the road, this time against Big Ten rival Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights would later be ranked as high as No. 23. The match was the Owls' first match against a Big Ten opponent since they defeated Penn State 3-0 in 2016.
In both matches, goalkeeper Eoin Gawronski starred. The standout keeper made overtime penalty kick saves in both matches in addition to pitching two shutouts. He received national accolades from TopDrawerSoccer and CollegeSoccerNews.com for his efforts. Gawronski is believed to be the first keeper in NCAA Division-I history to make overtime penalty kick saves in back-to-back matches.
The Cherry and White earned their first victory on the season with a 3-1 win over the Manhattan Jaspers to advance to 1-0-2 on the year. Following the win, the Owls were ranked No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches East Region poll.
Next, the Owls hosted Philly Soccer Six rival and eventual NCAA tournament team Villanova in front of Temple's largest home crowd this season. The Wildcats claimed victory as the Cherry and White gave up their third overtime penalty kick of the season. Gawronski also suffered a season-ending foot injury, putting Liam Cummings in net.
After a COVID-pause forced the postponement of a matchup against No. 1 Georgetown, the Owls lost back-to-back 4-1 conference matches against No. 18 SMU and UCF. Temple also took another injury blow, this time to starting defender Kemali Green. The Cherry and White then fell to Memphis, where they lost captain Andres Charles to injury for the next eight matches. However, Temple put forth a fantastic effort, taking No. 12 SMU down to the wire in a 1-0 defeat.
At the halfway point of the season, Temple earned an impressive 2-0 victory over eventual Ivy League champion Princeton. It was the Owls' third shutout of the season and would help pave the way for Cummings to earn a place on both the AAC and Philly Soccer Six Weekly Honor Roll.
After falling to USF at home, Temple hit the road again for a battle with No. 8 Tulsa but not before the injury bug struck again, this time taking out Cummings for the remainder of the season. The injury thrust walk-on senior Goodwill Agbaadem into the starting role. Despite Agbaadem making his first start, the Owls took the eventual conference champion to the brink.
Spencer Patton was named to the Philly Soccer Six Honor Roll after scoring his goal in Cherry and White against Tulsa. Temple dropped their next two matches to Penn and UCF.
The Owls fell to Memphis on the road before returning home for senior night against No. 8 Tulsa. This senior night was particularly special, as it featured many of the first recruits that coach Rowland and his staff had brought in over four years ago. Temple gave Tulsa all it could handle in front of a raucous crowd at the Temple Sports Complex. The two sides were tied late, but the Golden Hurricane broke through to take the match 3-2. Agbaadem set, then tied his career-high with five saves in both matches. His 10 saves on the week were enough to earn the walk-on AAC Honor Roll recognition less than a month after his first-ever collegiate action.
Temple rounded out its schedule with one final trip down South to face off against the USF Bulls. In a special moment, a four-year starter and captain Andres Charles scored his first collegiate goal in his final game in Cherry and White. Despite a valiant effort, the battered Owls dropped their final match of the season.
Luka Kozomara was the lone Owl to earn recognition from the conference. The freshman defender was named All-Rookie after a season in which he played in 13 games and started 12. He was one of several newcomers to contribute heavily, including Marques Antoine, Chaim Roserie, Tessho Kobayashi, Tyquan Stroud, Alex O'Leary, and Xavier Rimpel.
Five seniors played their final game in Cherry and White. Goodwill Agbaadem, Jalen Campbell, Andres Charles, Amir Cohen, and Saintaigo Majewski. The class combines for 15 career goals and 16 assists. During their time with the Owls, they helped lead Temple to two AAC tournament berths, defeated three ranked opponents including the program's highest ranked win ever against No. 2 SMU, and earn Temple it's highest seed ever in the AAC tournament last season (3).