The Owls continue their skid, lose 4-1 to UCF
Written by: Owen Boyle
Photo by: Temple Men’s Soccer
The Golden Knights pulled away in the second half as they continued their domination of the Temple Owls.
“It’s a difficult one for us,” said Brian Rowland. “I thought we played quite well tonight.”
The Owls traveled down to Orlando to take on UCF in their second AAC match of the season.
Before the match, the Owls hadn’t beaten UCF since 2018, being outscored 13-0 during that stretch.
The Golden Knights came into the match with a 3-3 record, beating Memphis in their first AAC game of the season.
The Owls looked for a fast start with a dangerous free-kick opportunity. Josh Chong’s shot was headed for the top right corner, but Tyler Lavigne tipped it over the crossbar.
The Golden Knights took advantage of their first attacking opportunity in the 13th minute.
Gino Vivi knifed his way through three Temple defenders before feeding Alessandro Campoy who tapped the ball home. This was Campoy’s fifth goal of the campaign.
Just a minute later, Lucca Dourado found himself on a breakaway but hit the right post.
Alex Marin had Temple’s second shot on goal, but his low drive was saved by Lavigne.
Temple finally found the breakthrough with a beautiful team goal. Mickael Borger’s through ball was flicked on by Chaim Roserie and slotted home by Mike Eijgendaal.
This was Eijgendaal’s second score of the season and Temple’s first goal against UCF since 2018.
“He’s starting to find his way,” said Rowland. “He’s scoring goals which is good, we are going to need him to score more.”
After a back and forth first half, the match went into halftime with the teams tied at one.
The Golden Knights struck early in the second half, taking their second lead of the match.
Nick Taylor’s left-footed pass flashed across the face of the goal and was fired home by an open Lucca Dourado. This was the Brazilian’s eighth goal of the season.
The Golden Knights were looking for a third goal, but Liam Cummings had other ideas. The sophomore goalie went full stretch to his left, punching away Gino Vivi’s shot.
“I can’t really blame him for any of their goals,” said Rowland. “There wasn’t much he could do, they were all well executed goals.”
UCF eventually doubled their lead through Nick Taylor. The former SMU midfielder pounced on a turnover and curled one past Cummings.
The Golden Knights continued to pile it on. Gianluca Arcangeli flicked a Gino Vivi cross past Cummings. Vivi notched his second assist of the match while Arcangeli scored his first goal of the season.
This loss was the Owl’s fifth straight defeat against UCF. They have now been outscored 17-1 over the five-game losing streak to the Golden Knights.
“It’s a tough place to play,” said Rowland. “They have had some really good teams over the past few seasons.”
The Golden Knights improve their AAC record to 2-0 while the Owls fall to 0-2.
This loss also marks the second consecutive 4-1 loss for the Owls in AAC play. They will look for their first conference win on Wednesday when they host Memphis.
“We are desperate for a win,” said Rowland. “The group that we have is better than how we’ve played and we need to be able to find a way to go put a performance on at home on Wednesday.”
You can catch that match at 7 on ESPN+.
