Temple Men’s Soccer entered Saturday’s game against Akron looking to get its season back on track. The Owls’ offense was sputtering after a hot start and had been scoreless for four straight games.
The Zips, on the other hand, had endured success despite a sub .500 record. Akron drew with last year’s NCAA tournament runner-up No. 23 Notre Dame on Aug. 22, and defeated then No. 13 VCU on Sept. 6.
However, Temple held its own against Akron despite having its back against the wall for much of the game. The Owls had little to no breathing room all day, but the Zips were unable to capitalize.
Temple finally got its break in the 85th minute, when Akron goalkeeper Mitch Budler was called for a yellow card. The Owls were given a penalty kick and midfielder Lukas Egarter stepped up to the plate to give his team their first goal in three weeks. Egarter drilled the shot and Temple’s defense put the clamps on Akron to get the win.
Temple (2-3-2, 0-0-0 American Athletic Conference) stunned Akron (1-3-3, 0-0-0 Big East Conference) 1-0 at FirstEnergy Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Owls were outshot 27-4 all game, but found a way to escape with a victory.
“Everyone wants to pass the ball around, but today was not that day, and we need to be okay with that sometimes,” said Temple head coach Bryan Green. “Sometimes you have to do the grunt and gritty work to get results because every game has different problems.”
The first seven minutes featured a stalemate, with neither side being able to separate themselves. The Zips almost changed that when forward Emil Jaaskelainen ripped a ball toward the net but Temple keeper Flannan Riley corralled the chance.
Jaaskelainen’s chance was all Akron needed, and the floodgates opened. For the remainder of the half, Akron attempted to break a Temple defense that allowed eight goals in its last four games.
Riley and fellow goalkeeper Andrew Kempe have swapped games between the posts this season, but Saturday was Riley’s time to shine. He stifled a Zip’s shooting barrage to keep the game level.
Akron fired off 11 shots throughout the first 45 minutes, but none were able to put them on the scoreboard. Riley made his mark on the action, ruining the Zip’s chances three times throughout the first half as Akron continued the relentless pressure.
“We’re pretty solid when set defensively,” Green said. “We knew there was going to be a lot of defending today and we were okay with that.”
Temple went nearly 40 minutes without recording a shot and finished with just four overall. Owls defender Aaron Markowitz found himself one-on-one against Budler in the 40th minute, but an offside penalty ruined the opportunity.
Temple squandered another chance when forward Nathan Brown found himself in the perfect position to give the Owls the lead. Brown’s efforts were diminished by Temple’s third offsides of the half to bring the first half to a close.
“We knew that we weren’t going to attack a lot today,” Green said. “But sometimes we need to be more aggressive and just let it fly.”
The second half was a carbon copy of the first 45 minutes of action. Akron continued the pressure but Temple never cracked. Budler had a relatively easy afternoon and never recorded a save throughout the game.
Akron almost broke through in the 68th minute, sending three shots Riley’s way. It was all for not though, as midfielder Wan Kurzi Wan Kamal and midfielder Malik Henry all were all denied by Riley.
“[Riley] was fantastic today,” Green said. “He came off his line when he needed to, he directed his back line well, and was just an unbelievable player.”
Temple was finally able to capitalize on Riley’s afternoon, and a penalty in the 85th minute was the break the Owls needed. Egarter got his penalty kick past Budler and the Owls escaped with the victory.
The Owls will begin conference play when they host Charlotte (3-0-2, 0-0-0 AAC) at the Temple Sports Complex on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.
