Temple falls to Charlotte as its offense stalls

Temple Men’s Soccer (0-5-3, 0-2-1 American Athletic Conference) lost to Charlotte (5-1-1, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) 3-1 Friday at TransAmerica Field in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Owls have now lost five of their last six games.

Temple fell behind in the first half and were forced to play from behind the rest of the way. They are still winless under head coach Bryan Green.

“I thought we started well, but Charlotte made some adjustments,” Green said. “I don’t think we went away from anything, just Charlotte is a good team.”

KEY MOMENTS

• Temple was on the attack early. After a failed fastbreak opportunity, forward Xavier Rimpel sent a crosser intended for midfielder Felix Ewald, but Ewald had to adjust in the air and fired an off-target shot
• Temple goalkeeper Andrew Kempe made his first save in the 14th minute and was aggressive in stepping out of the box to help defend against the oncoming attack. 
• Charlotte took advantage of Kempe’s aggression on a corner kick in the 18th minute. Charlotte midfielder Matthew Kirk lofted a corner kick, and defender Daniel Moore beat Kempe to the ball and knocked in a header to put Charlotte up 1-0.

• On Charlotte’s next corner kick in the 23rd minute, Kirk set up the goal for his team again. Charlotte forward Jonathan Nyandjo received the corner kick and, seeing Kempe was still in goal, snuck a header through the bottom left of the net. The 49ers took a 2-0 lead.
• After a slow first half, Temple opened the second with a score. On a free kick, Ewald assisted forward Juan Zepeda for his first goal of the season in the 52nd minute, and the Owls cut the 49ers’ lead to 2-1.
• In the 60th minute, Charlotte forward Brandon Morales extended his team’s lead to 3-1 off a pass from midfielder Logan Frost. This put the game out of reach for Temple.

THE NUMBERS

• Charlotte put up 10 shots in the first half compared to Temple’s two. Charlotte added seven more shots in the second half. 
• Temple’s only two shots of the first half were taken within the first eight minutes. The Owls took just three shots the rest of the game.
• Charlotte converted two of its three goals off corner kicks. The 49ers were awarded six in the first half and won the battle in that category 10-3.

• Kempe recorded a season-high of five saves, while Zepeda scored the eighth goal of the season for the Owls.
• Temple has scored eight times in eight games this season.

ON TAP

Temple will continue trying for a win against Florida Atlantic (51-4-3, 1-1-10-2 American Athletic Conference) at the Temple Sports Complex Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.