After suffering its first loss of the season Sept. 26 against Cincinnati, Temple responded with a 0-0 double-overtime draw Wednesday against the University of Delaware in Newark.
With the tie, the Owls moved to 7-1-2 on the season, and are now 1-0-2 in overtime games.
Coach David MacWilliams said he was pleased with the way the team bounced back after the Bearcats ended the Owls’ six-game winning streak Sept. 27.
“I thought the guys battled hard,” MacWilliams said. “They were probably one of the best if not the best team we’ve played so far. They possessed the ball very well, and their movement without the ball was the best I’ve seen.”
Temple scored two goals in the first half, but each was disallowed after an Owls player was flagged offsides.
Aside from the goals called back, the Owls registered one shot in the first 45 minutes of action as opposed to Delaware’s four. For the game, Temple totaled four shots compared 13 for the Blue Hens.
Delaware also topped Temple in the corner kick department, getting nine opportunities to the Owls’ three.
“We didn’t get many chances, but the guys worked hard,” MacWilliams said. “It was tough because we had to do a lot of defending. We had opportunities to counter, but just didn’t make that final pass in the final third of the field, so I think that was a lot of it.”
Along with Delaware’s ball possession and defense, rainy weather conditions posed a challenge for Temple offensively.
A mist in the first half turned to light rain in the second, which MacWilliams said made the ball skip a bit differently on the field and sometimes go astray, taking Temple out of its rhythm.
Dan Newhart can be reached at dan.newhart@temple.edu or on Twitter @DannyNewhart
Be the first to comment