Temple found itself in a familiar position against Tulsa Friday night. Like last year, they needed a win in the final game of the season to qualify for the American Athletic Conference tournament.
Last year’s season finale ended in a loss to SMU and the Owls missed the tournament by one point. Fast forward an entire calendar year and Temple entered its season finale against Tulsa again needing just one more win. The Owls had been up and down all season, but a four-game unbeaten streak propelled them into the conference final six teams.
After a scoreless first half of play, both teams entered the second half looking for a breakthrough. The Owls needed just one minute to find that breakthrough — and it came off the foot of a Tulsa player. Temple midfielder Lukas Egarter earned a free kick and he sent it into the Tulsa box. Golden Hurricane midfielder Alvaro Torrijos deflected the ball right into his net to give the Owls the lead.
The next 44 minutes was an onslaught of shots on Temple goalkeeper Andrew Kempe. The Owls played bend but didn’t break defense and managed to come away with the one-goal win despite getting outshot 19-6.
Temple (5-6-5, 2-2-3 AAC) snuck by Tulsa (3-9-3, 2-4-1 AAC) 1-0 Saturday evening at Hurricane Soccer Stadium. The win clinched Temple a spot in the AAC tournament for the first time since 2020.
“It’s awesome [to make the AAC tournament],” said Temple head coach Bryan Green. “It’s an awesome group of guys, and just to be able to keep going and be able to spend another week with them and have another chance to extend our season is awesome.”
As the match kicked off, both teams started slowly but Tulsa created the first real scoring chance of the night. Golden Hurricane midfielder Camilo Vargas attempted to dial up the pressure, sending a shot to the goal in the seventh minute, but it sailed past the net. Vargas fired another shot toward the goal six minutes later, but Kempe swallowed his chance to keep the game scoreless.
Temple’s defense has carried the team for most of the year and Friday’s game was no different. Kempe faced seven Golden Hurricane shots in the first half and ended the first 45 minutes with two saves to keep them at bay.
While the Owls’ defense locked down the Tulsa attack, the offense spent the first half lagging behind. Midfielder Rocco Haeufglockner gave Temple its first shot of the game 15 minutes in, but it was fired straight at Tulsa keeper Alex Lopez.
Haeufglockner’s shot was Temple’s only chance of the half, continuing the offensive struggles for Temple. The Owls had just a single corner in the first half and for a split second, thought they had secured a goal off it. Egarter looked as if he put Temple up with 45 seconds left in the half, but it was wiped off the board due to a foul as both teams went into halftime tied at zero.
“We have to do a little bit better job keeping the ball,” Green said. “I think we can take a little pressure off ourselves defensively if we can maintain a little bit more possession and then create a little bit more scoring chances and attack through that.”
With the second half underway, the Owls looked to create more offensive opportunities to take the lead. They immediately went on the attack and Egarter earned a free kick. His pass deflected off the right foot of Torrijos and into the Tulsa net, gifting the Owls the first goal of the game.
Haeufglockner attempted to double Temple’s lead with yet another shot in the 58th minute. Like his previous attempt, it posed no real threat to Lopez and Tulsa’s goalkeeper swatted it away with ease. For the next 30 minutes, no team was able to gain an edge as one team was fighting to play another game, while the other was looking to solidify itself in the conference tournament.
Tulsa looked to score the equalizer in the 68th minute when forward Gijis Hovius fired a shot toward Kempe and as the ball narrowly missed his hands it looked like a goal was all but certain. However, it rang off the post and looked like it may have crossed the line. Tulsa never challenged the shot and Temple continued to hold its lead.
The final 15 minutes turned into a frenzy, with Tulsa desperately sending shots to the goal hoping to finally break the dam. Kempe continued to withstand the avalanche, swatting every attempt back as Tulsa’s hopes faded away by the minute. The Golden Hurricane fired 13 more shots than Temple, including two that hit the crossbar but were never able to get on the board as the Owls held on for the win.
“Kempe was huge,” Green said. “He managed the game, his kicking was great and he came out on crosses. We had a little help from the post a couple times, but Kempe was just a beast.”
Temple will play in the AAC tournament beginning on Nov. 8 with its opponent to be determined once other league results are finalized.
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