MSOC: Temple Strikes Late to Topple Penn State Men’s Soccer, 1-0

Story posted September 27, 2016 in CommRadio, Sports by Jose Ruiz

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions (4-4-1, 2-1-0 Big Ten) suffered a late defeat to their instate rivals the Temple Owls (5-3-0, 0-1-1 American) 1-0 at Jeffrey Field Tuesday night. Conceding a stunning goal from distance with six minutes left in the game, the Nittany lions were left shocked and could not muster up an equalizing effort, suffering their second home loss of the season.  

The loss comes for Penn State on the same day their captain and leading scorer Connor Maloney came back from injury. The senior midfielder, Maloney, suffered a head injury against the Maryland Terrapins last week, and was a doubt all the way up to game time.

“It’s definitely not the result we wanted but it is just a minor setback to my major comeback,” Maloney said. “We just got to quickly forget about this and switch our focus on Michigan.”

While Maloney didn’t score, the senior’s presence was felt throughout the game. He was Penn State’s best offensive weapon on the night, creating four shots as well as constantly being a threat on the left hand side by crossing and making chances for other.

The Lions slightly dominated an ugly first half, creating six shots but no real clean-cut chances. Both teams struggled to set their game plan early, which led to the first 20 minutes of the game not having any true fluidity and many stern challenges. The half ended with the Nittany Lions dominating possession but with most of it coming on their side of the field and not really testing the Temple keeper. 

The second half saw the story change as the Owls came to life, creating 11 shots led by the play of junior forward Jorge Gomez Sanchez. The striker had a quiet first half struggling to find the ball and create his own shot.

That changed in the second half, as he was able to time his runs constantly to find the spaces in-between the Lions back line and exploit them. Gomez Sanchez’s first half saw him take no shots, but after the halftime adjustment he was able to shoot six times, which is more than Penn State had in either half.

The game-winning goal came with six minutes left by Gomez Sanchez, who hit a massive left-footed shot from 20 meters outside of the box that had the ball start out wide and ended in the middle of the goal. The shot came with so much movement that Penn State goalkeeper Evan Finney’s leap still left him unable to get a hand close to the ball.

The goal was demoralizing for the home team and the game ended with Temple creating more chances and keeping the ball until time went out.

“That goal is just something you can’t stop,” coach Bob Warming said. “That goal shows why [Gomez Sanchez] is one of the best players in the country. He is not the biggest or the fastest but he is always the smartest player on the field, picking the right time to run at defenders.”

Penn State will look to bounce back next week and keep their winning record in the Big Ten when they travel to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines.

 

Jose Ruiz is a senior majoring in print journalism. To contact him, email josejuanruiz16@gmail.com.