Penn State (4-4-1, 2-1 Big Ten) returned to action Tuesday night following its overtime win Friday against Wisconsin. Temple (6-3, 0-1 AAC) traveled to Happy Valley to take on the Nittany Lions following a loss in its conference opener against UCONN. The Nittany Lions tried to avenge a loss to the Owls from last season, but Temple scored late to win 1-0.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions had control of the game in the early going. The first opportunity came from a Connor Maloney free kick, which was well placed but couldn’t get past Temple’s goalkeeper Alex Cagle. Cagle came up with another save moments later after Sam Bollinger played Dayonn Harris in the box. Harris ripped a shot, but his angle was too narrow to beat Cagle.

The best opportunity of the half came in the 27th minute. Dayonn Harris received a pass in behind the defense and fired a shot that Cagle was forced to come out and stop. With Cagle out of the net, Maloney had a rebound opportunity that was blocked by a Temple defender. Penn State had another couple shots before the end of the half, but the Nittany Lions and the Owls went into the break scoreless.

The second half started out with a much faster pace than the first half did. Both Temple and Penn State had decent opportunities to break the deadlock, but couldn’t convert. As the game progressed, the game also became a lot more chippy with a number of fouls committed on both sides of the ball.

With six minutes remaining, Temple’s Jorge Gomez Sanchez struck a ball from the top of the box that went over Finney but dipped under the bar and into the back of the net to give the Owls a 1-0 lead. The late goal was enough to defeat the Nittany Lions for the second-straight year.

Player Of The Game

Jorge Gomez Sanchez | Midfield | Junior

The Spanish international created a number of opportunities and finally buried one late to defeat the Nittany Lions.

What’s Next

Penn State returns to Big Ten play on the road Sunday against Michigan. The game kicks off at 12 p.m. and will air live on BTN.