Ed Tatoian’s early goals led Temple to a national championship in 1951

Temple University Hall of Famer Ed Tatoian, who scored two goals in the 1951 national championship final, died earlier this month at the age of 88.

Tatoian scored twice inside 15 minutes in the national final played in front of 10,000-plus fans at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. Temple traveled by propellor plane some 18 hours to make it to the match after the original final slated for St. Louis in late December was postponed.

The match — billed as the Soccer Bowl — decided the 1951 championship, which predates the beginning of the NCAA Tournament in 1959, and also snapped San Francisco’s 40-game unbeaten streak.

Tatoian was part of another Temple national title two years later when the Owls were voted national champions by the Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association following a 9-0-0 season. Tatoian scored four goals in the final nine minutes in a 5-2 comeback win over Army to keep the perfect record intact.

The Northeast High School grad went on to play for the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals in the American Soccer League, helping to lead the team to the first of four straight league titles in 1961 while also capturing the U.S. Open Cup (known then as the National Challenge Cup) for the second straight year.

He retired as a teacher from Bartram High School in southwest Philadelphia, where he spent more than two decades coaching soccer.