Bulls roll past Temple, into semifinals
At the end of the second period, the scoreboard showed straight zeros between the USF Bulls and Temple Owls men’s soccer teams, but the numbers didn’t reflect the score.
Instead, the Bulls won the game, 1-0, during regulation time.
While the Bulls (7-3-8, 2-2-4) prepared for the game with finishing as a team focus, they started the American Athletic Conference quarterfinal match with a barrage of shots aimed at Temple junior goalkeeper Dan Scheck.
The balanced attack would include opportunities by seven different players, with two posting only one shot.
Included among those Bulls was senior forward Stiven Salinas, who found his third goal in four games.
With only 30 seconds left before halftime, Salinas received a pass from Edwin Moalosi that lifted over the heads of Owl defenders.
After Salinas touched the pass, he kicked it over a sliding Scheck and the ball rolled into the back of the net.
Senior midfielder Isaiah Ferguson, a substitute, was also credited with the assist.
Temple (10-4-4, 3-1-4) had its closest chance to scoring during the first period, with all of its shots on goal being attempted in the first 36 minutes.
The Owls would find two shots in the second period, but the Bulls defense wouldn’t allow an Owl attacker to place the ball on goal.
With Temple trying to find a scoring opportunity, it also had to deal with defending a Bulls team that wanted to find one more goal. Salinas, Moalosi and junior midfielder Wesley Charpie all attempted scoring within 10 minutes of each other.
Senior goalkeeper Brentton Muhammad recorded his third straight shutout, adding to his season total of seven.