Men’s Soccer Falls to Temple on Senior Night

Friday, November 1

Tulsa, Okla.

7:00 PM

Tulsa

3-9-3, 2-4-1

Temple

5-6-5, 2-2-3

Temple

Tulsa

Photo by: Joshua Rogers

Men’s Soccer Falls to Temple on Senior Night

11/1/2024 11:32:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa men's soccer team fought hard to stay alive but suffered a tough 1-0 loss Friday night to the visiting Temple Owls (5-6-5, 2-2-3 AAC) under the lights of the Hurricane Soccer Stadium. The Golden Hurricane finished the regular season with a 3-9-3 overall record and a 2-4-1 mark in American Athletic Conference play.

The Hurricane now sits in a sixth-place tie with Florida Atlantic, a team that TU holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over for the sixth and final seed in the AAC Championship next week. TU had previously beaten FAU 2-1 on Oct. 4 and needs the Owls to fall at home to third-place Charlotte (8-1-5, 3-1-2 AAC) Saturday night.

The deciding score in Friday's loss to the Owls of Temple was an own goal by Tulsa resulting from an errant deflection during an Owls' free kick into the Hurricane box.

Tulsa out-shot the Owls 19-6 and finished with eight corner kicks on the night. A few of Tulsa's shots came close to scoring but they instead bounced off the opposing crossbar.

The Tulsa men will be watching the result of the FAU-Charlotte game to see if their season continues in the American Athletic Conference Championship, beginning Friday, Nov. 8.

How it Happened
The first half was scoreless as neither team could find paydirt. Tulsa's defense kept the Owls away from the Hurricane's side of the field, allowing only one shot that was aimed on goal saved by GK Alex Lopez. Tulsa had seven shots and attempted two on goal in the first 45 minutes.

In the 47th minute, an unsporting yellow card was called on the Hurricane's Nils Orywol just outside the right corner of the Tulsa penalty area. On the ensuing free kick, the Owl attacker attempted a sharp pass into the goalie area, but the ball deflected up off Alvaro Torrijos' left foot and into the left corner of the Tulsa net, giving the Owls the 1-0 advantage.

Torrijos was attempting to send the ball out of the box but an unlucky deflection would end up costing the game for the Hurricane.

Tulsa didn't go down without a fight as the offense kept up the attack with 12 total second-half shots. Two shots by F Gijs Hovius and M Bowen McCloud ricocheted off the top crossbar down the stretch, and that was the closest Tulsa came to scoring as the time ran down in the Hurricane's 1-0 loss to Temple.

Game Notes

Tulsa honored seniors Alex Lopez, Larsen Rogers, Ander Bengoetxea, Yuki Sekiguchi, John Dalby, Will Edwards, Cooper King, Alvaro Torrijos, Camilo Vargas and Ty Sanchez before the match.
The Owls evened up the overall series at 5-5-4.
Tulsa shot the ball 19 times, five of which were on goal and saved by the goalkeeper.
Temple had less opportunities to attack, recording six shots and three shots on goal
Alex Lopez started in goal and came away with three saves.
Tulsa finished with eight corner kicks to Temple's two.
The Tulsa men can clinch the sixth and final spot in the American Athletic Conference Championship only if Florida Atlantic (6-5-3, 2-3-1 AAC) loses at home to third-place Charlotte (8-1-5, 3-1-2 AAC) Saturday night.

Scoring Summary
Tulsa 0 0 - 0
Temple 0 1 - 1

Individual Scoring
Temple (TULSA OWN GOAL) at 46:28

Saves
Alex Lopez (Tulsa) – 3
Andrew Kempe (Temple) – 5