The Owls lost their second straight American Athletic Conference game against the South Florida Bulls 1-0 on Friday night in Tampa, FL.
“We played against a really good team today in a very hostile environment,” coach Seamus O’Connor said. “We were so close. The girls played a great game tactically. We defended well but they just got one.”
Temple’s (6-5-1,1-2) loss was its first road defeat of the season and its fifth scoreless outing of the year. USF (6-2-3,1-1) registered it first conference victory after losing to No. 24 Central Florida, who the Owls face on Sunday.
In Friday’s game, USF outshot Temple 21-5. Seven of the Bulls shots were on goal and the Owls recorded two shots on goal. During their three conference games, the Owls have failed to record double digit shots.
Sophomore midfielder Paige Rachel led the Owls with two shots. Sophomore goalkeeper Shauni Kerkhoff recorded six saves in a loss.
Bulls’ junior midfielder Cristin Granados netted the lone goal of the game and registered four shots. Senior forward Sharla Passariello recorded a game-high six shots for USF. Sophomore goalkeeper Christiane Endler saved two shots en route to the win.
Both teams were held scoreless after the first 45 minutes of play, but four minutes into the second period, Granados finally found the back of the net for what would be the game winning goal.
“USF is known for their starts to the second half,” O’Connor said. “We tried to prepare the girls. I don’t know what they do, but they were just fantastic at the start of the second half. They came out and really took it to us.”
Through the final 40 minutes of the game, the Owls found minimal opportunities on offense and were unable to respond to the Bulls’ shots with their own quality looks.
Brien Edwards can be reached at brien.erick.edwards@temple.edu or on Twitter @BErick1123.
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