Owls open conference play with St. Joe’s

The Temple Owls (5-4) will begin their last Atlantic 10 Conference run when they travel to face the St. Joseph’s Hawks (6-3), Friday at 3 p.m.

Temple will be forced to regroup quickly, following a 15-11 loss to Delaware on Wednesday. Road games have not been favorable for the Owls, dropping four of the last five road contests, including three consecutive defeats. Friday’s game will be the Owls’ last game of a six-game stretch away from home.

Senior captain Stephany Parcell played her best statistical game of the season against Delaware, recording seven total points on four goals and three assists.

Despite Parcell’s performance, a tied season-low 12 ground balls played a part in a season-low three caused turnovers for the Owls’ defense, allowing the Blue Hens offense to prosper.

Offensive production from freshmen midfielders Nicole Tiernan, Megan Tiernan, and attacker Megan Pinkerton (four total goals) was beneficial, against the Hawks, Temple will need production from top scorers who have recently gone cold.

Against Delaware, leading freshman scorer Rachel Schwaab was held to zero goals and assists for the first time this season, while senior midfielder Kellee Pace continues her cold streak with zero points in the last three games.

In between the bars, senior Meghan Clothier and redshirt freshman Jaqi Kakalecik both played significant minutes against Delaware, totaling six saves. Clothier will likely receive the start against St. Joe’s, but coach Bonnie Rosen has shown throughout the season that she will shake up the goalkeeping duties, if needed.

For the Hawks, they rebounded, from consecutive one point losses to Old Dominion and Monmouth, with a 16-13 victory against St. Mary’s. In the victory against St. Mary’s, freshman attacker Bonnie McShane scored a total of five points, on two goals and three assists, and received A-10 Rookie of the Week honors.

Fifth year senior Meghan McDevitt leads St. Joe’s in goals and assists, with 20 goals and 14 assists.

This season, freshman goalie Genevieve Giblin has allowed an average of 6.71 goals per game and recorded 33 total saves.

In its second to last game of the 2012 season, Temple won in a convincing 19-11 game against St. Joe’s. Despite having more turnovers than the Hawks, the Owls’ plus-8 advantage in draw controls and perfect percentage on free position shots proved to make the difference.