CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Despite controlling the match and battling back to even the contest after finding itself down most of the game, the Charlotte men’s soccer squad fell to Temple, 2-1, in double overtime on Sunday afternoon at Transamerica Field.

The 49ers, who trailed the Owls since the 17:39 mark, kept the pressure on throughout regulation, and the hard work paid off as sophomore Donnie Smith nailed the equalizer in the 88th minute. After Charlotte forced the issue several times in the closing minutes, Smith capitalized on an opportunity with two minutes remaining.

Charlotte lofted a long ball into the box and numerous players, both Temple and Charlotte, kicked the ball around in a scrum in the front of the net. Freshman Will Mayhew footed the ball out of the congestion near the far post where it found Smith who sealed the deal from five yards out.

The tie lasted the rest of regulation and through the first overtime, but a Niner misstep led to the game-winning goal. Temple pushed on a breakaway with three minutes left in the double overtime period, and Max Kinderwater of Temple passed the ball ahead to a streaking Tyler Witmer. Junior Isaac Cowles was in position to intercept the pass, but the ball skipped off the top of his foot and onward to Witmer who went one-on-one with junior Gavin Dawson and beat him top shelf, giving the Owls the victory.

“We gave up a soft goal, and you have to give Temple credit, they came out and battled us well,” head coach Jeremy Gunn said. “We did not always play our best soccer, but we stay in charge. Unfortunately, we had all the pressure, but we did not put the ball away and Temple scored on a missed clearance. Today we look at ourselves and say we need to be a little bit sharper and finish our chances.”

The Niners found themselves down early in the match, as Temple’s Spurrier Vaughn cleaned up a deflection just inside the right side of the box. Spurrier collected the ball, and rolled it past Dawson just inside the far post to give the Owls the 1-0 edge. The goal forced the 49ers to play catch up for the majority of the match.

Charlotte dominated the stat sheet, racking up 24 shots to the Owls’ seven, and tallying 11 corner kicks to Temple’s four. The Niners also recorded eight shots on goal, Temple only managed two, but both found the back of the net. Smith led the 49ers with six shots, while senior Andres Cuero launched two. Dawson suffered the loss in goal, his first loss of the season, moving his record to 8-1.

The 49ers return to action on Friday against Massachusetts at Transamerica Field. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Live stats and results will be available on charlotte49ers.com.