Owls open AAC play with loss to Tigers

Temple University women’s soccer knew it would be difficult to keep up with the University of Memphis Thursday night, due to the Tigers home advantage.

The Owls (1-3-3, 0-1 The American Athletic Conference) struggled to mount any offensive pressure, which led to their 4-0 loss against the Tigers (7-1-1, 1-0 The American) in Memphis, Tennessee.

Temple only registered one shot on goal throughout the game.

“I think the better team won by a large margin,” said head coach Nick Bochette. “Memphis is one of the frontrunners to win the conference and we got a front row seat to why that is.”

The Tigers had been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches NCAA women’s soccer top 25 all season, until a 2-0 loss against Drake University last week.

Memphis’ first goal came at the 31-minute mark when senior defender Kimberley Smit scored off of a penalty kick that sailed into the top left corner of the net.

Despite being outshot 7-0 in the first period, the Owls were only down one goal at halftime.

“We know how dangerous Memphis is,” Bochette said. “We were put in a situation where we had to come out of halftime and score a goal.”

The Tigers struck again in the 52nd minute when freshman midfielder Jocelyn Alonzo scored her third goal of the season off an assist from junior forward Mya Jones.

In the 64th minute, the Tigers added to their lead after sophomore midfielder Haylee Spray scored from a few feet in front of the goal following a corner kick.

The Tigers scored their final goal of the night in the 75th minute when sophomore midfielder Grace Stordy took a shot that went high left, just out of Owls’ junior goalkeeper Kamryn Stablein’s reach.

The Owls’ lone shot on goal came from freshman forward Sumaya Togba in the 86th minute, but was denied by Tigers’ senior goalkeeper Elizabeth Moberg.

“Not many people are coming into Memphis and getting points,” Bochette said. “We have to learn from it because we have a lot of important home games coming up.”

The Owls will look for a win in their next matchup at home on Sunday, when they take on city rival Drexel University (4-2-1, 0-0 The Colonial Athletic Association) at 1 p.m.