For over 90 minutes yesterday, Penn men’s soccer was deadlocked with Temple at one goal apiece.
With less than a minute remaining in the second overtime, Temple’s Evan Bransdorfer fired a shot at the near post of the Quakers’ goal. Junior goaltender Ben Berg dove for the ball but could not manage the save.
The Owls emerged with a 2-1 double-overtime victory in Ambler, Pa.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Penn coach Rudy Fuller said.
Temple (3-3-1) capitalized on its opportunities, while the Quakers did not.
“I give Temple a lot of credit,” Fuller said. “They took advantage of their chances and punished us for it.”
Although they outshot the Owls 17-7 and had more corner kicks (6-4), the Quakers (3-2-2) did not put their shots in the right places.
“We’ve got to be sharper in the attacking third,” Fuller said. “In the end, we didn’t generate enough quality chances.”
Despite Penn’s edge in shots, each team managed the same number of shots on goal (four).
After allowing a goal just over six minutes into the game, the Quakers’ defensive unit stepped up, lasting over 100 minutes before Bransdorfer scored the game-winner.
“The defense played well,” Fuller said, “but I think there are critical moments in a game when you’ve got to be really solid. You’ve got to be 100 percent within your own penalty area; almost isn’t good enough.”
The Quakers’ play of the day came on the goal just over 16 minutes into the game. Sophomore Christian Barreiro — one of just two returning Penn starters — sent a lead pass to forward Tobi Olopade, who was able to scoot past the goaltender for Penn’s lone goal of the afternoon.
Olopade, who had never scored a goal before this season, has recently emerged as a major scoring threat for the Quakers: his three goals is second-highest on the team.
While Olopade held up his end of the deal offensively yesterday, the junior from Chicago wasn’t ready to lay blame for the defeat on any particular unit.
“We live and die as a team of 11,” he said. “While we didn’t get the result we wanted today, it’s impossible to single out a single unit on this team. It will always be a team effort.”
The rest of the Quakers are trying to make sure that the tough loss isn’t a lost cause.
The experience of a tight game like this one will surely ready them for any similar situation in the future, so that next time they will end up on the right side of the nailbiter.
“Today is an example of what makes soccer so beautiful: Sometimes things go your way, and sometimes things don’t,” Olopade said.
