Men’s Soccer Loses 2-1 to Even Season Series with USF

Saturday, February 27

Philadelphia, PA

7:00 PM

Temple University

1-3-0, 1-3-0

USF

2-2-0, 2-2-0

South Florida

Temple

Photo by: Richie Raspa

Men’s Soccer Loses 2-1 to Even Season Series with USF

2.27.21 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA- The Temple men's soccer team (1-3-0, 1-3-0 AAC) lost a tight 2-1 match to the USF Bulls (2-2-0, 2-2-0 AAC) on Saturday night. The Owls got out to an early 1-0 lead before USF scored two late first-half goals to gain the lead. Despite controlling the second half, Temple could not get the equalizer.

How it Happened
> The game got off to an exceptionally slow start. Neither team fired a single shot until USF finally broke the stalemate over 20 minutes into the match.
> Just over a minute later, Temple opened up scoring with a goal from sophomore Amir Cohen. Sophomore Sean Karani found forward Mike Eijgendaal who danced around the USF defense and found Cohen in the center of the box who knocked it in with an acrobatic kick.
> The Bulls responded in the 34^th minute. Josue Monge found an open Jeffery Copper on the left side of the box. Copper shot the ball over the head of Nikolas Hartmann to even the game at one.
> Only seven minutes later, in the 40^th minute USF struck again. Monge earned his second assist of the match with a ball sent to the front of the goal to a waiting Segun Afolabi. Afolabi headered it in to take the 2-1 lead.
> Goalkeeper Eion Gawronski made his first appearance as an Owl. The redshirt freshman replaced Hartmann in net for the duration of the second half.
>In the first 15 minutes of the second half, Temple had four shots. Three were aimed high over the net. Eijgendaal headered Temple's second and final shot on target of the match off a free kick opportunity in the 59^th minute.
> Gawronski impressed with his first collegiate shot on net in the 79^th minute. USF's Oscar Resano found himself alone on a breakaway and fired an on-target shot from the top of the box. The keeper made a diving save to preserve the Owls' chances in the match.
> The final shot of the night came in the 85^th minute. Amir Cohen took a free kick from a few feet beyond the top of the box. The shot got past the USF wall and rolled just wide of the far side of the net to seal the result, 2-1 Bulls.

Game Notes
> This marks the third straight game where Temple lost by one goal.
> Eijgendaal continues to make an impact in his first season with the Owls. Last match the Netherlands native notched his first NCAA goal last match against Memphis and put up a shot and assist today.
> The six yellow cards called today mark a new high in the Temple season. Four were drawn on USF, and two on Temple. Mickael Borger and Karani were the Owls carded.
> Two shots on target are a new season-low for Temple.

From the Coach
> "I can't question the effort. I thought the guys played exceptionally hard and aggressive, and they were committed to doing the work. However, there were plays to be made and possessions to be retained, we're just making similar mistakes [to last game] and it's costing us games. I'm sure you could look at both teams you could find errors. " -- head coach Brian Rowland.

Up Next
> The Owls will host the No. 8 SMU Mustangs on Saturday, Mar. 6. The match will end a four-game homestand and will be streamed on ESPN+.