Men’s Soccer Ties Tulsa 1-1; Tulsa Advances 3-1 in Penalty Kicks

Thursday, April 15

Orlando, FL.

4:00 P.M.

Temple University

5-4-2, 5-4-1

Tulsa

6-3-2, 6-3-1

Temple

Tulsa

Photo by: Richie Raspa

Men’s Soccer Ties Tulsa 1-1; Tulsa Advances 3-1 in Penalty Kicks

4.15.21 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla.- The Temple men's soccer team (5-4-2, 5-4-2 AAC) tied the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-3-2) 1-1 Friday afternoon in the American Athletic Conference semifinals. After a competitive 90 minutes of regulation, the match was tied at one. It remained tied through two overtime periods, Tulsa advanced via penalty kicks 3-1.

How it Happened
> The match got off to a very sluggish start. Eoin Gawronski saved the first shot of the match in the 11^th minute.
> There was not a single shot taken for the rest of the first half. Tulsa pressed, but the Owl defense did an exceptional job breaking up passes and disrupting the Golden Hurricane's attack.
> In the 51^st minute Tulsa broke the scoreless tie by way of a goal from Alvaro Torrijos.
> After the Tulsa goal, Temple began applying pressure to the Tulsa defense. The Owls began regularly testing the Golden Hurricane defense, earning corner kicks, and controlling possession.
> Midfielder Jalen Campbell fired off the first Temple shot of the game in the 63^rd minute.
> In the 73^rd minute, the Owls evened the match. Amir Cohen found Brady O'Connor on the top right shoulder of the box. O'Connor quickly moved it along to Mickael Borger who arced a perfect ball that found the foot of Campbell who hammered it home.
> Temple continued pushing the Golden Hurricane for the remainder of regulation. O'Connor fired another ball on net while Temple controlled the ball for the majority of regulation.
> The first overtime saw several quality chances for the Owls. Campbell had perhaps the best chance in overtime in the 95^th minute. Sean Karani found Campbell alone at the top of the box. The midfielder gunned a shot that was blocked by a Tulsa defender.
> Soon after Temple has another quality opportunity via a well-positioned header by freshman Nigel Griffith that went high.
> Gawronski made his presence felt in the 99^th minute with a save to keep the game knotted at one as time expired in the first overtime period.
> The second overtime was less eventful as fatigue began to set in for both teams. Fabian Grant had the best chance to end the game with a foul a few yards beyond the top of the box. Grant fired the ball just under the crossbar, but it was saved by the Tulsa keeper. Soon after, the match ended in a draw, with the advancing team being decided by penalty kicks.
>Temple missed its first three kicks, while Tulsa made two of three. Grant nailed the fourth, but Tulsa's Alex Meinhard sunk the Golden Hurricane's fourth to end it at 3-1.

Game Notes
> This is the first time Temple has gone to penalties since 2003 in the Atlantic-10 tournament. The Owls advanced 3-2 in PKs over Duquesne.
> This is also the second-straight season Temple has gone to overtime in the AAC tournament. Last season the Owls triumphed over Memphis 2-1 in the first round.
> Campbell's goal is his fourth of the season, putting him in a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard for Temple alongside Mike Eijgendaal and Cohen.
> There were three yellow cards in the match, one on Temple and two on Tulsa.

From the Coach
> "The guys are disappointed, they've been on a good run beating some really good opponents. Certainly, we weren't ready for this conference tournament to end for us. We thought we still had some more left in us. But you know we'll pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and see what's next." -- head coach Brian Rowland.

Up Next
> The Owls postseason fate will be announced at noon on Monday when the NCAA reveals the 36 men's soccer teams that will compete for the national title.