The Vidas Athletic Complex was packed as the Owls headed into overtime against Drexel University on Tuesday.
Moments before overtime started, the Red Hot Chili Peppers played on the loudspeaker as students engaged in chants for the Dragons.
Drexel used the fan support to its advantage and scored the game-winner with three minutes, 37 seconds left to give the Dragons (1-2-2) a 3-2 win against the Owls (4-2-0).
“It’s disappointing,” coach David MacWilliams said. “I thought we needed to get back on track, and unfortunately, we didn’t.”
After a 4-0 start, this is the Owls’ second loss in a row, as they fell 2-0 to Rider University on Saturday.
Scoring for Temple was senior midfielder Jorge Gomez Sanchez, who tallied his fifth and sixth goals against Drexel. Both goals were assisted by junior forward/midfielder Joonas Jokinen.
Gomez Sanchez’s first goal came in the fourth minute off a pass to the middle from Jokinen. He scored his second of the night off a sliding shot in the 36th minute. Through the six games Temple has played, Gomez Sanchez has recorded at least one goal in five of them.
“He is tremendous,” MacWilliams said. “He is a threat any time he is on the field … teams have got to key in on him, and he’s still able to score, so he’s a tremendous asset to our team and our program.”
The Owls had several opportunities to score, as they finished the night with 14 shots, compared to Drexel’s 11. Redshirt-junior defender Mark Grasela had a notable opportunity in the 16th minute when his bicycle-kick shot hit the post.
Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Alex Cagle finished the night with two saves. Cagle and the defense were looking to rebound from allowing two goals against Rider after having given up only one throughout their first four games, but the night did not go exactly as planned.
“We talked about getting back on track and making sure we do the correct things, and working hard, and defending,” MacWilliams said. “We gave up two goals and we didn’t want to give up any goals tonight, but unfortunately, we gave up two in the first half that put us on our heels, so it’s definitely something we’ve got to work with.”
Temple will return home for its next game against Fairfield University on Saturday. This will be the last game the Owls have before they enter American Athletic Conference play the following week against Connecticut.
“I think it’s going to be well needed, how much we gotta get a win in before we start playing in conference,” MacWilliams said. “We gotta get a win in on Saturday, but that’s not going to mean it’s going to be easy.”
Maura Razanauskas can be reached at maura.razanauskas@temple.edu or on Twitter @CaptainAMAURAca.
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