Temple upsets defending national champion Syracuse on last-minute goal

Temple Men’s Soccer (2-5-3, 1-2-1 American Athletic Conference) defeated defending national champion No. 10 Syracuse (6-3-3, 2-1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) 2-1 Tuesday at SU Soccer Stadium. 

Head coach Bryan Green’s team now has a two-game winning streak after starting the season winless in its first eight games.

The win marked Temple’s first victory against a top-10 team since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, when they beat No. 2 SMU 1-0 at home. 

KEY MOMENTS

• After Temple started with a defensive approach, midfielder Lleyton Imparato scored off an assist from midfielder Tessho Kobayashi to put Temple up 1-0. Imparato is now second on the team in scoring with two goals.
• The Owls opened up the second half with a shot in the first 20 seconds. Defender Aaron Markowitz found some space down the right side of the pitch, but Syracuse goalkeeper Jaheim Wickham was there for the save. 
• In the 48th minute, Syracuse midfielder Felipe D’Agostini looked to tie the game up, but his shot was off target. That was the Orange’s 11th shot of the game, and the first that was on goal.
• Temple goalkeeper Flannan Riley, making his first start since Sept. 11, recorded his first save of the game in the 72nd minute off a shot from Syracuse midfielder Josh Belluz. 
• Syracuse finally tied the game 1-1 with a goal from midfielder Gabriel Mikina, avoiding their first shutout of the season.
• With under two minutes left, Owls’ midfielder Felix Ewald found defender Rocco Haeufglockner for the second goal of the game and Haeufglockner’s first of the season. They finished the upset and escaped with the 2-1 win.

BY THE NUMBERS

• After Temple’s first shot 20 seconds into the first half, Syracuse took the next eight shots, but all sailed over the net. 
• Syracuse won the shot battle 9-2 and the corner kick battle 6-0, but the team could not get on the board in the first half. The Orange were officially ranked No. 10 in the country prior to the game.
• Each team racked up seven fouls in the first half and Temple defender Kemali Green picked up the lone yellow card in the initial 45 minutes.
• Syracuse finished the game with a 15-5 shot advantage, but had fewer shots on goal than Temple, putting up two compared to the Owls’ four.
• The Owls finished the game with zero corner kicks. Syracuse had 14.

ON TAP

Temple will look to continue its momentum against South Florida (3-7, 1-3 American Athletic Conference) at the Temple Sports Complex Oct. 14 at 4 p.m.