Temple fell to 3-10 on the year after 3-0 to Houston on the road Thursday night.
The loss marks the seventh time the Owls have been shutout this season.
Temple has now lost its fourth straight game. Coach Seamus O’Connor said this season has been one of the hardest years of his career, but his players have helped him get through the tough times.
“They’re fun kids to be around and they work hard,” O’Connor said. “Every day in practice they show up and they want to work hard. So, I think that makes it easier for me cause they want to work hard.”
Houston got on the board early when junior midfielder Selena Peters knocked in a goal 14 minutes, 37 seconds into the first half to put the Cougars ahead 1-0.
Later in the second half, Houston took advantage of the Owls’ defense after freshman defender Emily Keitel left the game when she took a blow to the face while she was heading the ball.
A minute after Keitel left the game, sophomore forward Desiree Bowen knocked in a goal to give Houston a 3-0 lead midway through the second half.
“She had to come out of there and they scored on us as soon she came out of there,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor had no update on Keitel’s injury after the game.
Temple has only scored one goal in its past four contests, getting outscored 7-1 in the losing streak.
After losing their top two goal scorers from a year ago, the Owls have struggled to produce on the offensive end this season.
O’Connor said because sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Nash has been playing well this year, he’s been going with a more aggressive attack on offense but the Owls couldn’t capitalize.
“It’s just unfortunate we didn’t have anybody that wanted to finish it bad enough,” O’Connor said. “We had some good quality plays, some really good possessions, some really good build up but just the final shot. The final shot is not there.”
Despite starting off American Athletic Conference play 0-3, O’Connor said his young team comes to work with a positive attitude every day.
“They’re really good kids and they represent Temple with a lot of pride,” O’Connor said. “I’m just proud of them. They haven’t turned on each other. They just show up every day willing to work hard and try to get better.”
The Owls continue conference play against Southern Methodist (8-3-1, 2-0-1 The American) on Sunday in Dallas. The Mustangs are tied for first in The American.
Tom Ignudo can be reached at thomas.ignudo@temple.edu or on Twitter @Ignudo5.
Be the first to comment