Box Score Men's College Soccer
Temple University 3, Rider University 1
AMBLER, PA— Over the past week the mention of Temple University made many people sad in Happy Valley, as both the men's soccer team and the football team enjoyed upset victories over Penn State.
On Tuesday afternoon, it was Rider's turn to feel the agony of defeat to the hands of the Temple Owls.
The host Owls scored three second half goals to give the Broncs their first loss of the season.
“If we put away our chances in the second half we would have been up 3-0,” said Rider head coach Charlie Inverso. “Their keeper made two saves on breakaways and that was the difference.”
Temple (3-0-1) broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the 74th minute of play and scored on a penalty kick two minutes later for a 3-1 lead.
Temple tied the score with 32 minutes left in the second half.
A pair of first team All-MAAC selections teamed up for the first goal of the game.
Rider (2-1) took a 1-0 lead when senor Sonimi Halliday (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) scored on a corner kick on an assist from junior Christian Flath (Bargeshagen, Germany) in the 12th minute of play.
“The first 30 minutes we were pretty solid,” Inverso said.
It was the eighth career goal for Halliday, a defender. “It was a good goal,” Inverso said.
It was the third assist of the season for Flath, who now has 47 career points in 39 collegiate games.
Rider out-shot Temple 11-9, including 7-6 in shots on goal. “It's not like we didn't have our chances,” Inverso said, “We did not execute the game plan very well. That's really disappointing.”
The Owls, who recently defeated #25 Penn State 2-0, had 10 corner kicks to just three for Rider. “Temple is a good team,” Inverso said. “They have good players, but I think we should have won this game. We blew a really good opportunity today. I have high standards for the players on this team and I think they played below those standards today.”
Rider junior goalkeeper David Pastuna (Robbinsville, NJ), the MAAC Defensive Player of the Week last week, made four saves.
Rider and Temple have now met 35 times since the series began in 1961, with the Owls holding a 28-5-2 advantage. The last time Rider defeated Temple was 2000. Temple defeated Rider 1-0 in the last meeting, in 2013.
Rider hosts LIU Brooklyn Thursday at 7pm. “It's a quick turnaround but it's good that it is home,” Inverso said. “We better be ready to play.”
-ru-
