The Owls concluded their two-game road trip with a 2-2 draw in double overtime on Sunday against Tulsa.
Senior forward Gabriella McKeown’s fourth goal of the season on an open net in the 83rd minute tied the score at two and sent the game into overtime.
The Owls (5-6-2, 1-2-1 American Athletic Conference) had five shots compared to Tulsa’s two the extra periods, but neither team scored.
McKeown, who took two of Temple’s five shots in extra time, tried adding to her goal total. Her shot in the 96th minute was blocked and her other attempt in the 104th minute went wide left.
“I really thought we were the stronger team to finish the game and that we should’ve won this one,” coach Seamus O’Connor said. “Honestly, sometimes it just takes a little bit of luck on your side to win these really close conference games.”
Temple’s tie against Tulsa is the third straight game sophomore goalkeeper Morgan Basileo has allowed two goals or more. The Owls are 4-3-2 with Basileo as the starter.
Both of Tulsa’s goals came from less than 10 yards away from the net. Senior forward Eden Opie booted in a goal in the 71st minute from eight yards out, and freshman midfielder Ashlyn Heckman broke the scoreless tie with her first-career goal from two yards out in the 58th minute.
Twenty-five seconds after Heckman’s goal, redshirt-senior forward Kayla Cunningham scored a goal from 22 yards out into the upper right corner of the net to tie the game at one. She ended a 278-minute, 26-second scoreless drought for the Owls.
“As the game went on we definitely started playing a lot better,” O’Connor said. “Sunday games are always tough especially when you’re traveling because you give so much on your Thursday game that sometimes not all of your energy is left in the tank just a few days later.”
Temple tied its opponent for the second time this season. The Owls’ game on Sept. 15 against Towson University ended in a scoreless draw.
The Owls have five games remaining. With just more than three weeks until the start of the conference tournament, the team currently sits in seventh place in The American’s standings. The Owls haven’t made the conference tournament since the 2015 season when they lost to Central Florida, 2-1.
“We’re battling for a spot somewhere in the four, five, six range in these five conference games remaining,” O’Connor said. “It’s amazing everyone thinks we’re out of it, but we’re right there. As long as we clean up some of the mistakes like we made today on defense that we weren’t happy with, we’ll be pretty good.”
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