Millen earns Big East honor for second time

Lizzy Millen’s 17 saves against No. 3 Maryland on Sunday helped earn her Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this season.

The redshirt senior goalkeeper tied her career high in saves in the losing 3-0 effort to the Terrapins, following the two saves she made in Temple’s 5-1 home opening win against Delaware on Friday.

With the Owls already up 5-0 against the Blue Hens, Millen was substituted out at halftime for junior Haley Mitchell, who allowed Delaware’s lone goal and also registered two saves.

Millen was first awarded the honor on Sept. 1, coming off the heels of an opening weekend sweep via a 4-2 win against Northeastern and a 2-0 shutout of the University of Massachusetts.

The Whitehall, Pennsylvania native is posting a .864 save percentage through six starts, good for 13th in the nation.

Temple opens with No. 16 ranking in poll

Temple will enter the weekend with No. 16 preceding its name.

With a 3-1 start to the season, the Owls earned the No. 16 spot in the first week of the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll.

A 3-1 start at this time last year, that included a 3-0 upset over then-No. 6 Penn State on Sept. 6, put the Owls in the No. 11 spot. They retained a place in the Top 20 rankings up until the end of last season.

This year’s preseason poll left Temple unranked entering the season.

The Owls began their season with back-to-back wins against Northeastern and the University of Massachusetts at the Conference Cup Tournament in Lancaster, then split a weekend road trip with a 6-1 against Rutgers last Friday, then a 3-0 loss to No. 4 Duke.

Temple’s home opener is set for Friday at 3 p.m. with a matchup against Delaware.

Millen named defensive player of the week, Youtz to honor roll

Redshirt senior goalkeeper Lizzy Millen and senior forward Amber Youtz earned individual honors for Temple’s 2-0 start this past weekend.

Millen has been named the Big East Defensive Player of the Week, and Youtz has been named to the conference’s weekly honor roll.

Millen made five saves in the Owls’ opening matchups, posting a .833 save percentage.

She made two saves and allowed one goal in 63:23 of play in a 4-2 win against Northeastern on Friday night. On Sunday, Millen recorded three saves in Temple’s 2-0 shutout of former Atlantic 10 rival University of Massachusetts.

The Whitehall, Pennsylvania native started every game for the Owls last season, putting up a .766 save percentage, with a 2.03 goals against average and five shutouts.

Youtz, meanwhile, scored two goals in the win against Northeastern and one against UMass. She led the Owls in scoring the past two seasons, with 16 goals and 39 points in 2013, and 22 goals and 54 points in 2012.

Thames finds suitor in Finland club

Natasha Thames is heading overseas, it was announced Monday.

The recent Temple graduate signed with Finland’s Kotka Peli-Karhut, a team that ranked second in the SM-sarja last year, for the 2014-15 season.

Thames, a forward, averaged 10.3 points-per-game and a team-best 7.2 rebounds-per-game as a redshirt senior during a rough 2013-14 season for the Owls. She also shot 51.5 percent from field-goal range and 69 percent from the free-throw line, averaging 31.5 minutes on the court.

Her career numbers average 6.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 24.3 minutes-per-game, with a 47.7 percent field-goal percentage and a 56.8 percent free-throw percentage.

Thames led the team in blocks last season with 23, and set the Owls’ record for most games played with the team with 134, after starting all 30 games in her final year.

Field hockey announces 2014 schedule

Temple will be opening its season at the training site of the USA National Team.

Going into the team’s second year as members of the Big East Conference, 10th year coach Amanda Janney has announced the Owls’ schedule for the fall.

Temple will open up with the Conference Cup Tournament at The Spooky Nook in Lancaster, Pa., on Aug. 29. The Owls will face Northeastern and the University of Massachussets during the opening weekend, and then go on the road to take on Rutgers and Delaware the following weekend.

Temple will return to Geasey Field for its home opener against Delaware on Sept. 12.

The Owls will begin Big East play on Oct. 3 at Providence and will have conference match-ups against Villanova (Oct. 10), Old Dominion (Oct. 17), Georgetown (Oct. 24) and Connecticut (Nov. 1) as well. The games against Villanova and UConn are at home.

Temple finished 14-6 overall and 4-3 in the Big East last season. The Owls were 17th in the NCAA’s RPI rankings and fell just short of an NCAA tournament berth after losing 3-0 to UConn – the eventual Big East and NCAA Champions – in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.

“We have seen success with our philosophy of scheduling the best teams to prepare our team for conference play,” Janney said in a press release.

The Owls will face eight ranked teams from 2013 this upcoming season, which include three of last year’s Final Four teams: Duke (away on Sept. 7), Maryland (away on Sept. 14) and UConn (home on Nov. 1).

Postseason hunt continues for lacrosse

The Owls (3-3 Big East Conference) are still vying for a spot in the Big East tournament, and them clinching a spot will come down to the very end.

Louisville (6-0 Big East) and Georgetown (5-1 Big East) already have the No.1 and No. 2 seeds locked up, while Connecticut (4-2 Big East) has a spot in the tournament secured. The Huskies, however, still have to see whether they’ll be the No. 3 or No. 4 seed.

This leaves Temple in in a fight for the final spot with Villanova (3-3 Big East) and Rutgers (2-4 Big East).

The Owls will play Rutgers on Friday night, and Villanova will play UConn the next day.

If Temple wins and Villanova loses, the Owls are in. The opposite result sends the Wildcats to the tournament instead.

Any other scenario will put Temple and Villanova in a three-team tie with either UConn or Rutgers.

Should Temple and Villanova both lose their regular season finales, they will be tied with Rutgers for fourth in the Big East, with each team holding a 3-4 record.

All three teams lost to Louisville, Georgetown and UConn, and beat Marquette and Cincinnati. As a result, the tiebreaker will be determined by goal differential. The numbers aren’t set just yet, so the differentials won’t be calculated until both games are played.

If Temple and Villanova both win their final games, it puts them in a three-way tie with UConn for the third seed.  In this scenario, all three teams would be 1-1 against each other. Villanova lost to Temple but would have beaten UConn, Temple lost to UConn but beat Villanova, and UConn beat Temple but lost to Villanova.

The tiebreaker would once again go to scoring differential. In instances such as Temple’s 19-3 win over Cincinnati on April 13, only a maximum of seven goals would count towards the differential.

Through the first six conference games for each team, UConn is plus-9, Rutgers is minus-3, and Temple and Villanova are each minus-7.

Rutgers would be eliminated in this situation, giving UConn the three seed and leaving Temple and Villanova in a head-to-head tiebreaker for the fourth seed. Because the Owls beat the Wildcats back on April 5, they would gain the advantage in the tiebreaker and clinch the fourth seed.

The Owls’ regular season finale at Rutgers starts at 7 p.m. on Friday night, and Villanova’s last game at UConn will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Youtz, Doyle selected to All-Region Team

The accolades keep coming in for junior forward Amber Youtz and senior defender Molly Doyle, as Youtz has been named to the Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-Region First Team and Doyle the second team.

Youtz led the way for the Owls, offensively, recording 16 goals and seven assists for 39 points. She also led the Big East in points and goals per game, with an average of 2.44 points per game that ranks second in the nation and a goal per game average that is fifth in the nation.

In her final season with the Owls, Doyle had a career year. She scored eight goals and three assists for 19 points and, as one of the team’s co-captains, led a defense that held opponents to 1.60 goals per game.

Both Youtz and Doyle were named to the Big East All-Tournament Team.

Youtz was also named to the Big East First Team and the Preseason All-Big East Team.

Doyle, meanwhile, was named to the Big East Second Team and was selected to play in the NFCHA Senior Game.

Youtz was named Big East Offensive Player of the Week two times this season and Doyle once to combine for three of four times the weekly award has been given to an Owl in 2013.

Doyle, Youtz named to Big East All-Tournament team

Senior defender Molly Doyle and junior forward Amber Youtz have been named to the 2013 Big East All-Tournament Team.

The roster was announced Sunday following the end of the conference tournament.

Youtz tallied 16 goals and 7 assists for 39 points to lead the team in scoring for the regular season, despite missing three games with an arm injury along the way. Youtz also led the NCAA with an averaged 2.60 goals per game and finished second in the nation in goals per game with an average of 1.07.

Doyle, one of the team’s co-captains, finished second on the team in scoring with eight goals and three assists for 19 points. She also led a defense that held opponents to 1.60 goals per game.

Both Youtz and Doyle recorded hat tricks in 2013. Doyle earned the first of her career in a 3-1 win over Bucknell back on Oct. 6 and Youtz recorded the fourth of her career in another 3-1 win, this time over Providence on Oct. 11. It was her first game back from her injury.

Temple was eliminated from the Big East Tournament by top-seed and No. 7 ranked Connecticut in a 3-0 loss. UConn moved on to beat No. 5 Old Dominion 1-0 in overtime, clinching the Big East Championship.

Youtz was also named to the Big East First Team, while Doyle and redshirt junior goalkeeper Lizzy Millen were named to the Big East Second Team on Thursday night at the conference’s awards banquet.

Youtz, Doyle and Millen named to Big East Team

Junior forward Amber Youtz has been named to the Big East Conference First Team and senior midfielder/defender Molly Doyle and redshirt-junior goalkeeper Lizzy Millen have been named to the second team.

The three received honors Thursday night at the conference’s awards banquet, just a day prior to the start of the Big East Tournament.

Youtz led Temple in scoring this season with 16 goals and seven assists for 39 points. She leads the NCAA in points per game with a 2.60 average and is third in goals per game with an average of 1.07. Youtz was selected to the Preseason All-Big East Team before the start of the season and was named the conference’s offensive player of the week twice during the year.

Doyle was right behind Youtz with eight goals and three assists for 19 points, which is second on the team in scoring. Doyle was also named Big East Offensive Player of the Week, after scoring two goals in the 3-0 shutout of Penn State back on Sept. 6 and has played a big role in a defense that has held opponents to 1.53 goals per game.

Millen has started all 19 of Temple’s games this season in the cage, recording five shutouts and posting a .775 save percentage that is 13th in the nation. She made a 100 saves in 2013 to total 299 for her career, which is seventh all-time on the team.

The No. 19 Owls begin postseason play Friday at 5 pm, with a rematch against No. 7 Connecticut in the conference semifinals. Temple is the fourth seed in the tournament, while UConn has the No. 1 spot. Temple lost to UConn 7-0 when both teams met last weekend.

Doyle selected to Senior Game

Senior midfielder/defender and co-captain Molly Doyle has been selected to play in the 2013 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Senior Game.

The game will be held at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex on Nov. 23. Doyle is one of 38 seniors selected for the game and one of five coming out of the Big East. She is also the eighth senior that will represent Temple in the past seven years.

“We’re extremely proud of Molly and all her accomplishments,” coach Amanda Janney said in a press release. “She has really developed into one of the best defenders in the nation, and it will be great to see her play with the other top seniors.”

“Throughout the past years, our seniors have been able to show that they are some of the best players in the country,” Janney added. “Katie Briglia (2009-12) had a wonderful Senior Game last year against the US National Team, and we’re excited to see Molly do the same.”

Doyle has played a big role this season on a defense that has held opponents to an average of 1.22 goals per game and has helped to record five shutouts.

Offensively, Doyle is having a career year. She is second on the team in scoring with eight goals and three assists for 19 points, and recorded her first career hat-trick in a 3-1 home win against Bucknell on Oct. 6.