No. 10 Syracuse’s backline falters late in 2-1 loss to Temple

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Temple’s Tessho Kobayashi flicked a pass ahead toward the penalty area off a Syracuse turnover. Lleyton Imparato blew past Nate Edwards and received the ball in stride, tapping his shot off goalkeeper Jahiem Wickham’s fingertips and into the net for the opening goal.

Two costly mistakes by No. 10 Syracuse’s (6-3-3, 2-1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) defensive line proved costly in its 2-1 loss against Temple (2-5-3, 1-2-1 American Athletic). Despite allowing five shots and no corner kicks, the Owls caught the Orange with clinical counter attacks against an out-of-positioned defense. After conceding the first goal, defenders Buster Sjoberg and Gabriel Mikina combined to tie the game at 1-1. However, just 76 seconds later, Syracuse would allow a back-breaking, go-ahead strike in the 88th minute.

“Our quality in front of goal was poor. The first half there was only one shot on target and it was (Temple’s) goal,” head coach Ian McIntyre said.

Coming off back-to-back clean sheets, SU’s backline looked poised for a third early on. Following a foul from Mikina, Pablo Pedregosa awarely deflected away an ensuing free kick from the Owls. The graduate student later blocked a shot attempt in the 12th minute, keeping the match scoreless. Edwards cleaned up after a sloppy turnover by Syracuse’s offense, pressing a Temple forward into a giveaway.

Sjoberg and Josh Belluz kept the backline tight in the first half, clearing any danger Temple had. After his presence forced an errant pass out of bounds, Sjoberg boxed out another Owls’ forward, going for a goal in the 24th minute, using his strength for another swift clearance.

Syracuse’s offense continued to possess the ball with the backline pushing up to midfield. What looked like a promising scoring chance quickly backfired on the other end. Temple’s Daniel Moya poked the ball away from Mateo Leveque and with two passes the Owls broke through Syracuse’s defense and took the lead, catching Syracuse on the break. It was Wickham’s first goal allowed in any of his three starts the season as the only shot on goal by either team in the first half gave Temple a 1-0 advantage.

“In the end, it’s just about repetition…We have to take an analysis on (our defense) and I think we’ll be fine going from here,” Syracuse defender Noah Singelmann said.

Syracuse’s backline was tested immediately to start the second half. Owls defender Aaron Markowitz broke free into the penalty box inside 10 seconds. Markowitz looked poised to extend the visitor’s lead on his breakaway opportunity. Instead, Mikina recovered and forced sprinted Markowitz to rush his shot, which went right into the arms of Wickham. Four minutes later, Belluz passed to Wickham for a routine clearance, but the goalie hesitated, almost giving the ball away to a Temple attacker. A weak pass from SU’s keeper allowed for another chance, but Pedregosa stepped into the penalty area with a strong challenge to gain possession back.

Earning another free kick near midfield, Leveque steered clear an Owls opportunity in transition after a header that glanced off-line. Soon after, Temple’s Xavier Rimpel dashed into the box and received a ball from midfield. Edwards challenged the forward, muscling him out of the way as Wickham came out to clear the danger. Another deep clearance from the Owls in the 71st minute gave Felix Ewald a chance to strike. Syracuse’s Felipe D’Agostini regained his footing in time to collect the overshot pass. Belluz worked to halt another dangerous Temple attack while shielding Markowitz from firing on the net after dodging into the penalty area.

With time winding down in the second half, the Orange backline turned defense into offense. Wickham slipped on a diving attempt, but a fingertip was enough to deflect a shot off from Juan Zepeda. In the 86th minute, Jeorgio Kocevski’ whipped a corner into the box which ricocheted from Sjoberg to Mikina and inside the left post, evening up the score 1-1.

But the celebration did not last long. Less than two minutes later, the Owls had the Orange outnumbered four to three on a breakaway. Ewald tucked in a pass to a cutting Rocco Haeufglockner, who snuck behind Pedregosa 22 yards away. The sophomore lined up a rocket to the top-left corner, for the game-winning strike.

The SU defense did not concede a goal in any of its four home nonconference matches to start this season. Tonight, it allowed two.

“(Temple) could’ve folded at the end when we tied it up, but they didn’t, they went down the other end and scored. Congratulations to them, and we’ll look to be better when we get back together,” McIntyre said.