Temple knew it had an uphill battle heading into Thursday’s clash against Memphis. The Owls were on the heels of their fourth straight loss while the Tigers entered the day ranked No. 16 in the country. While Temple looked to pull off an improbable win, it took all of 13 minutes to realize that an upset wasn’t in the cards.
Tigers defender Izzy Monck hauled in a pass by forward Maddie Eskin and drilled her shot past goalkeeper Tamsin Bynoe to take the early lead. The goal kickstarted a four-goal avalanche for Memphis, who easily cruised past Temple to send the Owls spiraling for their fifth straight loss.
Temple (2-12, 0-5 American Athletic Conference) fell to No. 16 Memphis (9-1-1, 4-0-1 AAC) 4-0 Thursday evening at the Temple Sports Complex. The loss puts the Owls’ conference losing streak to 25.
“We were really pleased with the first 15 minutes [of the half] ” said Temple head coach Chris Shaw. “This team can be pretty Jekyll and Hyde-ish with how we play from one half to the next”
The Tigers showed their offensive prowess early, forcing Bynoe to make two saves in the first three minutes, including a diving save attempt to keep the game level. Memphis continued to apply pressure on the Owls’ defenders, keeping Temple trapped in its own third of the field for the entire first 10 minutes of the game.
Temple made its way into Memphis territory just once and the Tigers swiftly ended the Owls’ chance. Temple’s lack of offensive opportunities became too much for the defense to fend off and it eventually crumbled. Monck was able to take advantage of the defensive lapses and convert off of a corner kick in the 13th minute to take a one-goal lead.
Temple’s desperate search for the equalizer took a significant blow when forward Shari Atkins was injured and subbed off after a collision in the 15th minute. Temple’s leading scorer left for the remainder of the first half putting the Owls behind the eight ball for its comeback attempt.
Memphis continued to send a flurry of shots at Bynoe and she was able to make two more saves, but the Tigers finally got the better of her. Midfielder Ai Kitagawa’s shot got past Temple’s keeper to double the lead in the 18th minute. Memphis kept its foot on the gas and stayed in the Temple third, winning two corner kicks and firing off three shots in the next four minutes.
“When we win the ball we’ve got to value possession a bit more and keep the ball,” Shaw said. “We give it away too easily.”
Bynoe was finally relieved when the defense made it into opposing territory in the 25th minute. Temple defender Phoebe Hollin had the Owls’ first shot of the day in the 30th minute but Memphis goalkeeper Kaylie Bierman swatted the ball away.
Memphis had a prime opportunity to extend its lead after a misplay from Bynoe that left Kitagawa with a wide-open net. However, Temple defender Julie Jakobsen threw herself in the way to block the shot and keep the game at 2-0.
Memphis needed little time to get its offensive spark going in the second half, challenging Bynoe in just the 46th minute but missing. Temple matched the Tigers’ energy as they quickly marched down the field ending in a shot by Temple midfielder Gabby Oudin but it was unsuccessful.
Temple put sustained pressure for the first time in the match against the Memphis defense using the momentum gained from a Memphis offside in the 51st minute. The Owls were repealed by the Tigers who responded on the counterattack when Eskin notched a goal to put Memphis ahead 3-0 in the 59th minute.
The Owls’ defense showed improvement in the second half, keeping the Tigers out of the Temple third of the field. While the Tigers were able to match their shot total in the first half, the quality of shots decreased as Bynoe only had to face four shots on goal as opposed to the eight she faced in the first half.
“We know that we can compete on our home turf,” Jakobsen said. “We’ve struggled a lot with going through the motion, when we tackle and when we fight for the ball but I think every player on the field put their body on the line this game.”
Memphis scored in the dying embers of the match when midfielder Natalie Leibel sent the ball into the back of the net, putting the finishing touches on Temple’s shutout loss.
Temple will travel down on short rest to face South Florida (8-2-3, 3-1-2 AAC) for a 1 p.m. matinee on Oct 13.
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