Monthly Archives: October 2012

Volleyball travels to Duquesne

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Coming off a 3-0 sweep against La Salle, the volleyball team (4-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference) heads west to take on conference foe Duquesne (4-1) on Friday.

Temple will be looking to ride its defense to another win, in a match that they will likely be considered an underdog. The Owls rank No. 12 in the nation, and first in the A-10, with 17.8 digs per set.

Duquesne, coming off a 3-1 loss against George Washington, features a balanced offense, however. The Dukes have four players with at least two kills per set. Junior outside hitter Allison Foschia leads the team with 2.99 per set.

Last season the teams split their season series, with both squads winning at home. Temple is looking to stay near the top of the conference, and with a win of Duquesne would remain in second place.

The match starts at 7 p.m.

-Jake Adams

Women’s soccer begins homestand vs. Rhode Island

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The women’s soccer team will begin its second two-game weekend homestand of the season on Friday at 3 p.m. when they take on Rhode Island at Temple’s Ambler Sports Complex.

Coming off a 1-0 double-overtime win at Duquesne on Sunday, Oct. 7, the Owls will enter with momentum on their side, sophomore defender Alyssa Kirk said.

“I think Rhode Island is one of the tougher teams we will face,” freshman goalkeeper Shauni Kerkhoff said.

Temple will enter Friday’s match with a 4-8-2 record (2-1-0 in Atlantic 10 Conference) while Rhode Island will enter with a 7-6-1 record and losers of their last three matches, all of which were A-10 conference matches.

“I expect to win, 100 percent,” Kirk said. “We are going to go out there and do whatever it takes to get the win Friday and Sunday.”

On the season, Rhode Island has scored 23 goals compared to Temple’s six on the year. On the defensive side, the Owls have let up 10 less goals that Rhode Island has to opponents, as Rhode Island goalkeepers have allowed 23 goals compared to Temple’s 13 given up by Owl goalkeepers.

“This weekend is going to be the turning point in our season,” Kerkhoff said. “The outcomes of these two games will affect the rest of our year.”

-John Murrow

Field hockey commutes to La Salle

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After picking up two wins this past weekend, the field hockey team will be looking for its third win in a row when the Owls play La Salle (6-7) on Friday.

Coach Amanda Janney said that much like most Atlantic 10 Conference games, their game tomorrow will be scrappy.

“It should be an aggressive, physical game,” Janney said. “La Salle is a good, athletic team and I think they’re going to put a lot of pressure on us.”

The Explorers are coming into the game fresh off of a conference win over Lock Haven, and are currently riding a three-game winning streak.

“[La Salle] has a lot of momentum coming off of their win from last week,” Janney said. “I think we have a lot of momentum so it should be an aggressive game.

La Salle will be relying heavily on junior forward Olivia Shoemaker to produce on offense. She has scored five goals this season, and has a .729 shot on goal percentage.

To stop the Explorers, Temple is going to have to continue to score early and often. So far this season, La Salle has been out scored by opponents 40 goals to 25.

Sophomore forward Amber Youtz will be looking to add to her 15 goals and 7 assists, while sophomore goalkeeper Lizzy Millen will try for her first shut out of the year.

The game starts at 3:30 p.m. at Devincent Field on La Salle’s campus.

-Colin Tansits

Men’s tennis ready for city scrimmage

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The men’s tennis team will be playing downtown this weekend at the Drexel Invitational.

The Owls and the Dragons will be the only teams there. There were originally going to be more teams competing, but they all dropped out, so Temple and Drexel will scrimmage each other to prepare for next weekend’s ITA Regional Championship in Charlottesville, Va.

Coach Steve Mauro says that Drexel has improved from last year and will be a good warm up for the ITAs.

The two Philadelphia squads will begin on Friday morning with doubles play, with singles play directly following and extending into Saturday. Mauro said that he has not decided on the doubles pairings yet, but they will likely be different than the pairings at the Penn Invitational.

Those pairings were senior Kacper Rams and sophomore Kristian Marquart, sophomore Hernan Vasconez and freshman Nicolas Paulus, and freshman Hicham Belkssir and freshman Maros Januvka.

-Evan Cross

Women’s soccer concludes weekend road trip

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After a 1-0 loss against St. Bonaventure on Friday, the women’s soccer team will look to grab the second game of the weekend road trip as they visit Duquesne on Sunday at 1 p.m.

“We are going to put what happened on Friday behind us for Sunday’s game,” redshirt-junior forward Jackie Krostek said.

After 86 minutes of scoreless play in Friday’s match, St. Bonaventure junior midfielder Alyssa Lapp headed a ball past freshman goalkeeper Shauni Kerkhoff, ultimately giving the Bonnies the 1-0 win and their first Atlantic 10 conference win.

Entering the third A-10 match of the season, Temple will look for its first win in conference play. After dropping their first two conference matches to St. Joseph’s and St. Bonaventure, both of which were 1-0 losses, the Owls will look to grab their first A-10 win against a Duquesne team that is also in search of their first conference win.

Last season, the Owls beat A-10 rival Duquesne in a 1-0 shutout. Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Tara Murphy recorded five saves in the shutout win and junior defender Karly O’Toole netted the match’s only goal. Murphy will be forced to sit out against Duquesne after receiving a red card on Friday.

Temple will enter Sunday with a 3-8-2 overall record (0-2-0 in A-10), while Duquesne begins with a 4-7-2 record (0-2-1 in A-10).

“They are going to be a very good team, but ultimately, it’s going to come down to who wants it more,” O’Toole said.

-John Murrow

Men’s soccer squares off with Duqesne

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After beating St. Bonaventure in an overtime thriller Friday afternoon, the men’s soccer team has shifted it’s focus to Sunday’s Atlantic 10 Conference matchup against Duquesne.

The Dukes (4-7) travel to Ambler Campus after beating A-10 rival St. Joseph’s Friday in Philadelphia. Temple (5-4-1) is also coming off it’s first conference victory of 2012.

The hero in that game, junior defender Jake Lister, knows exactly what to expect from Duquesne.

“Duquesne is always a tough team to play. I have a few buddies on the team,” Lister said. “They’re a really, really physical team, and we’re just going to give them all we got.”

The Dukes got the best of the Owls when these two teams met last season. Then-junior forward Joshua Patterson scored both goals for Duquesne, defeating Temple 2-0.

Coach David MacWilliams says that the schedule has not done his team any favors. He gave the team off on Saturday in anticipation of another grueling A-10 match Sunday.

“We’re just trying to get some rest so we can turn it around for Sunday,” MacWilliams said. “They’re a very athletic team, particularly up front. They’ve got some pace. It’s going to be a battle for us.”

Sunday’s match against Duquesne will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Ambler Sports Complex.

-Tyler Sablich

Schedule change

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Temple ice hockey thought it was playing Marist College in day two of the Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association Division II showcase until a schedule change last night.

The last minute change in opposition apparently didn’t faze Temple ice hockey as the Owls knocked off Texas State University by a resounding 9-3 score.

After falling in a 2-0 hole, Temple outscored Texas State 9-1 the rest of the way en route to the win. Freshman forward Dave Brewer netted his first three goals in a Temple uniform with a hat trick, and senior defenseman Jordan Lawrence scored his first goal in almost two years.

Senior forward Sean Nealis also had his second consecutive two-goal game after going scoreless in Temple’s first five contests.

Freshman forwards Cody Vassa and Jayson Marbach also added goals for the Owls, with Vassa scoring twice.

“We had a horrific first period,” coach Jerry Roberts said.“We were down 2-0 and we turned it around in final two periods. We were disappointed in everything we did in first period, but bounced back well.

Brewer had gone scoreless in his first five Temple games before his three-goal outburst against Texas State.

“He’s by far our most underrated player,” coach Jerry Roberts said.“It was nice to see him get some recognition with the hat trick tonight and really plan on him being a big part of offensive core the next few years.”

Sophomore goalie Eric Semborskihad his first start of the weekend in net.

The Owls will face East Carolina University tomorrow at 9 p.m. for their last game of this year’s ACHA showcase.

“They’re in our conference and we haven’t played them in two years,” Roberts said. “They’re a decent team and they’re a team who is capable of beating us if we’re not committed to executing our game plan. If we do that and keep our focus throughout, we should be fine.”

-Andrew Parent

Ice hockey continues play in ACHA Showcase

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After a two-game stretch on Friday that ended shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday, the Owls left the Cabin John arena last night with a split as part of the Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association Division II showcase.

A 12:45 p.m. matchup with Wagner College turned into an 8-5 shootout that saw senior forward Sean Nealis net his first two goals of the year in the Temple win.

Freshman forwards Greg Malinowski and Jayson Marbach added goals. Junior forward Joe Pisko, Sophomore defenseman Chris Carnivale, and senior defenseman Andrew Trainor also had tallies for the Owls.

Freshman goalie Jon Plester got the start in his Temple debut in a game in which many of Temple’s younger players got the opportunity to play.

The Owls then faced off with Siena at a late 10:30 start time and fell 4-1.

Marbach scored the only goal for Temple in a game where Siena maintained control throughout.

The Owls will take on Marist College today for their third ACHA showcase contest. Sophomore goalie Eric Semborski will start.

Game time is set for 3 p.m.

-Andrew Parent

Volleyball heads to La Salle for Big 5 match-up

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The Owls return to action this weekend in another Atlantic 10 Conference battle, this time traveling to La Salle to take on a struggling Explorers team.

Temple already faced La Salle this season, sweeping them 3-0 in the Big 5 Tournament. Junior outside hitter Elyse Burkert led the match with 12 kills and tacked on 12 digs as well as the Owls cruised 25-22, 25-20 and 25-12 in the Palestra.

Since their last meeting the teams have headed in completely different directions. The Explorers have gone just 2-10 since facing Temple, including 0-4 in the A-10.

Meanwhile the Owls have gone 10-2, with their losses coming at the hands of Miami (OH) and Dayton, as the team sits near the top of the conference at 3-1.

Sophomore middle back Jennifer Iacobini said after the Dayton loss that the Owls have the mentality of a team that doesn’t expect to lose another conference meet, beginning with La Salle.

Game time is set for 7 p.m.

-Jake Adams

Field hockey hosts VCU in A-10 play

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The field hockey team begins Atlantic 10 Conference play today when they take on Virginia Commonwealth University (8-2) at Geasey Field.

The Owls are coming into the game fresh off a 6-0 loss against No. 5 Maryland.

VCU is led by senior forward Kelsey Scherrer, who has nine goals and six assists so far this year.

Coach Amanda Janney said that an early start is cruicial for Temple for its match-up with the Rams.

“[VCU] brings a feisty, aggressive game and they have a lot of confidence, they have a winning record,” Janney said. “We need to really step up and set the tone early.”

Janney said that VCU’s two foreign players bring a different dimension to the game.

“[VCU] has a couple foreign-born players on their team, so brings a different dynamic that we don’t know much about them and we didn’t see them play in high school,” Janney said.

Janney said she wants her team playing to the level they are capable of, meaning sophomore Amber Youtz and freshman Alyssa Delp will have to step up on the frontline.

The two forwards have been the Owls’ main offense all year, and after being shut out against Maryland they are looking to for more goals.

Janney said that if the defense can slow down Scherrer and the Temple frontline can produce offense, her team has a good chance at coming out on top.

-Colin Tansits