Temple University men’s soccer (5-4-2, 5-4-1 The American Athletic Conference) tied 1-1 with Tulsa University (6-3-2, 6-3-1 The American) but lost in penalty kicks in The American Athletic Conference Tournament after two overtime periods in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.
This was the first time the Owls and the Golden Hurricane matched up in The American Athletic Conference tournament.
Owls assistant coach Armante’ Marshall coached the team after head coach Brian Rowland was forced to sit out after receiving a red card in the last regular season match against Tulsa.
The score remained deadlocked at zero until in the 51st minute, when Golden Hurricane freshman forward Alvaro Torrijos ripped the ball across the box to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead.
Then in the 74th minute, Owls junior midfielder Jalen Campbell finished an entry pass from senior defender Mickael Borger past Tulsa’s junior goalkeeper Lucas Cline to tie the game up at 1-1.
Temple finished with only eight shots in the game, including Campbell’s goal, all of which came in the second half and overtime.
Temple’s second-half surge was due to the players’ more focused mentality out of the half, Marshall said.
“I thought the group was more connected,” Marshall added. “I think overall, the boys were more on the same page. The boys had a bit more humility in the second half in regards to raising their work rate overall.”
The score remained tied for the remaining 17 minutes of regulation and through two overtimes, pushing the game to penalty shootout.
The Owls went down 2-0 quickly in the shootout, as Golden Hurricane junior defender Henry Sach and senior midfielder Chase Bromstedt tapped in goals past Owls redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Eoin Gawronski.
After three straight missed kicks by the Owls to start the shootout, Tulsa redshirt-freshman forward Alex Meinhard gave the Golden Hurricane the win with a shot past Gawronski.
Despite giving up three goals in the penalty shootout, Gawronski played well for the Owls, Rowland said.
“Not an easy game for a goalkeeper, sometimes it’s easier to be a lot more busy,” Rowland said. “He dealt with what he needed to and was ready, and the shootout is its own little thing separate from the game.”
The Owls await a decision from the NCAA on April 19 to see if they will continue their season in the NCAA tournament.
