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CINCINNATI - In a battle of two of the leading goal scorers in the American Athletic Conference, Cincinnati's Alejandro Garcia got the better of Temple's Jorge Gomez Sanchez, scoring the game-winning goal in the 85th minute to give the Bearcats (5-4, 1-0 American) a 3-2 victory over the 17th-ranked and previously unbeaten Owls (7-1-1, 0-1 American).
Cincinnati scored first in the seventh minute, but Temple answered with a pair of goals before the 20th minute to take a 2-1 lead into the half. It became the Garcia (Coral Springs, Fla./Darton State) show in the last 15 minutes, with the senior scoring in the 77th and 85th minutes to give Cincinnati the victory and Temple its first loss of the year.
Terence Carter (London, England/Northeastern) scored the early goal for UC, with an assist from John Manga (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay). Manga, the preseason conference offensive player of the year, also assisted on Garcia's game winner for his first points of the season. Manga has battled an injury and played in just his third match of the year. Emmanuel Appiah (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central), Adam Wilson (Auchterarder, Scotland/Dollar Academy) and Jonny Williams (Loveland, Ohio/IUPUI) also recorded assists.
// GOAL SCORING SUMMARY
7' - CIN Terence Carter (John Manga & Emmanuel Appiah)
Carter got the Bearcats out to the early lead by cleaning up a near-side corner from Appiah that was headed in front by Manga.
9' - TU Jorge Gomez Sanchez
The Cincinnati lead was short-lived as Gomez Sanchez took a free kick from just outside the top of the box and tucked it between the far post and an out-stretched Diaz.
20' - TU Matt Mahoney
Gomez Sanchez was again the catalyst, this time playing a give-and-go with Mahoney who slid into a one-touch from Gomez Sanchez to finish and give the Owls a 2-1 lead.
77' - CIN Alejandro Garcia (Adam Wilson)
The Bearcats got the equalizer when Garcia struck for his first of the night. The senior one-touched a volley from Wilson about 12 yards out for the score.
85' - CIN Alejandro Garcia (John Manga & Jonny Williams)
Garcia scored his second game-winning goal of the season to give the Bearcats the victory. Williams played a ball into Manga just inside the box who then one-touched it to Garcia for the finish.
// MATCH NOTES
- It marked UC's first victory over a ranked opponent since taking down No. 6 Louisville, 2-0, at Gettler Stadium on Oct. 23, 2013.
- Garcia had his second two-goal game of the season after scoring twice against Northern Kentucky in the season opener.
- Manga's two assists make him the first UC player with two assists in a match since he and Garcia both had two helpers against Temple last season on Oct. 18.
- Cincinnati won its conference opener for the first time since 2012.
- The Bearcats improved to 5-2 at Gettler this season.
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats play their final non-conference road match on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Oakland. The match is set for 5 p.m.