Two second-half goals doom Owls

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After scoring two unanswered tallies in the second half, Connecticut defeated the Owls 3-1 at the Huskies’ Monroe Field on Wednesday night.

Temple (2-11-2), which has one win since Sept. 5, scored its lone goal when sophomore defender Stefan Mueller scored his first goal of the season off a feed from senior midfielder Willie Chalfant to tie the game at one apiece in the 50th minute.

The Huskies (6-6-1) soon scored twice in eight minutes to effectively put the game out of reach, though, the first of which came from sophomore forward Cyle Larin in the 56th minute. Sophomore forward Ethan Vanacore-Decker capped the scoring in the 65th minute.

UConn led the count in shots on target, 8-4, while the Huskies amassed 10 corner kicks on the night, compared to Temple’s three. Owls senior goalie Dan Scheck stopped five shots in net.

With the loss, the Owls dropped their fourth consecutive contest. They’ll play the last game at home of the season when Tulsa pays a visit Saturday at 2 p.m.

Delp named to conference honor roll

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Junior forward/midfielder Alyssa Delp was named to the Big East Conference Field Hockey Weekly Honor Roll after tallying a goal and an assist in Temple’s loss to Old Dominion on Friday.

After falling into a 2-0 hole, Delp provided the helper on a goal by Youtz that got the Owls on the board in the 20th minute. She then came back about three minutes later, and scored the tying goal to make it a 2-2 game heading into halftime.

Delp has four goals, two assists and 10 points in 13 starts this season.

Temple stays put at No. 16

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Temple stayed at No. 16 in this week’s Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll, and sit at No. 13 in the NCAA’s ratings percentage index rankings.

The Owls (11-5, 2-1 Big East) split this past weekend with a 3-2 loss to conference foe Old Dominion (now No. 17) Friday and a 4-1 win against William and Mary on Saturday.

There are three games left on the regular season schedule. Two of them are conference matchups against Georgetown (5-9, 0-3 Big East) on the road Oct. 24 and No. 5 UConn (11-2, 3-0 Big East) at home on Nov. 1.

The Owls will have one more non-conference game against Lafayette (5-9) on Oct. 26 at home.

As the regular season begins to come to a close, senior forward Amber Youtz has found herself at the top of the nation’s stat sheets. Her 1.31 goals per game is the best in the NCAA and her 2.81 points per game is second in the nation.

With 21 goals and 45 points, Youtz leads the Big East in both categories by a wide margin, and is a goal and nine points away from tying her career-high 22 goals and 54 points set in 2012.

Youtz is also closing in on third all-time in goals and points for the program, improving her career totals to 63 goals and 148 points after recording another three goals and 11 points during the weekend. She needs five more goals and 16 more points to tie Monica Mills (1981-84) for third in each category.

Redshirt senior goalkeeper Lizzy Millen has also put up a productive season to this point, posting a 79.5 save percentage that is seventh in the nation, and a 1.55 goals against average that ranks 20th.

Sydlik earns honor roll nod

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After road wins at Houston and Tulane during the weekend, Temple setter Sandra Sydlik was named to the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll Monday.

Sydlik averaged 11.71 assists per set during the weekend and amassed 41 assists against Houston and another 41 against Tulane.

The Owls dropped just one set in both conference matches over the weekend improving to 14-6 overall and 5-3 in The American.

Rowers to compete at international event

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The women’s rowing team is hours away from the start of one of the largest two-day rowing competition in the world.

The 50th annual Head of the Charles Regatta will begin on Saturday as more than 11,000 rowers will be competing on a three-mile course on the Charles River in Boston.  Participating athletes will range from youth to senior citizens, and novices to those with Olympic experience.

Among Temple’s 49 rowers on the roster, only 19 of them will be representing Temple in three boats. Coach Rebecca Grzybowski said several elements went into choosing who will be going to the regatta, including experience and conditioning.

The women in Club 8+ are  junior Kelsey Franks (coxswain) junior Emilie Mehler (seat 8), junior Emily Opperman (seat 7), senior Moira Meekes (seat 6), junior Callie DiGuardia (seat 5), sophomore Jenna Bahel (seat 4), freshman Charlie Forman (seat 3), sophomore Lea Millio (seat 2) and sophomore Kaitlin Grisanti (seat 1).

In the Club 4+ (A)  boat are sophomore Ellie Oken (coxswain), junior Lily Papaleo (seat 4), junior Emily Leyland (seat 3), senior Annie Buckley (seat 2) and senior Kathy Bostion (seat 1).

In the Club 4+ (B)  boat are senior Erin Matz (coxswain), senior Kayla Dorney (seat 4), senior Gina Inverso (seat 3), junior Grace Kroner (seat 2) and freshman Danielle White (seat 1).

The competition begins on Saturday at 8 a.m. and can be watched online here.

Boathouse sublease agreement reached

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Temple will enter into a 20-year sublease agreement with the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development to renovate the East Park Canoe House, where the crew and rowing teams store boats.

The Board of Trustees’ general body approved the decision at a Tuesday meeting in Sullivan Hall on Main Campus.

The university expects the project to cost $5.5 million, $2.5 million of which will come from the City of Philadelphia. H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest donated the remaining $3 million in February, which coincided with the city’s initial announcement of the renovation.

The expense report for the project, a part of the public agenda from the meeting, was signed by President Theobald on Sept. 17.

The lease for the Boathouse Row property includes two 10-year renewal options and would require Temple to provide and maintain public restrooms on the property.

-Joe Brandt

Aflakpui joins crop of verbal commits

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Less than two weeks after men’s basketball coach Fran Dunphy secured the word of four-star Haverford School recruit Levan Alston, Archbishop Carroll High School’s Ernest Aflakpui verbally committed to Temple on Sunday.

Aflakpui, a 6-foot-9-inch power forward out of Radnor, joins Dunphy’s current 2015 recruiting class that already included Alston and Ewing High School (New Jersey) shooting guard Trey Lowe.

Aflakpui is rated as a four-star recruit on ESPN.com, while Rivals.com has him as a three-star prospect.

Dunphy’s batch of three recruits matches his total number from Temple’s 2010, 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes. He pulled in one four-star recruit for the 2014 class in 6-foot-8 power forward Obi Enechionyia.

 

Davis earns conference honors

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Tyler Davis’ productive weekend helped earn her a spot on the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll, the conference announced Monday.

The sophomore outside hitter led the way in both of Temple’s home conference matches during the weekend. Davis hit a season-high 46.9 percent in the Owls’ 3-0 win against Cincinnati on Friday, and also led the team with 16 kills in the 3-1 loss to Memphis.

She finished the weekend with a 35.5 hitting percentage.

Owls working on transition, health ahead of USF

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There was one area the men’s soccer team worked on Wednesday afternoon in its preparation for the University of South Florida on Saturday night: the transition game.

“South Florida is a team that’s very good in transition,” coach David MacWilliams said. “We wanted to simulate a session where you’re keeping the ball, and then all of a sudden it’s played down to the other end of the field, and you have to get back behind the ball.”

Defending against a quick reversal of play will be key if the Owls are to win their first road match this fall. One of the key guys who could be back in Temple’s lineup is sophomore defender Stefan Mueller, who has missed the last three matches due to stomach pain.

MacWilliams said Mueller’s presence would greatly help come Saturday.

“We have to see how things go [this week],” MacWilliams said. “But if he’s able to play, it definitely strengthens our team.”

Freshman midfielder Filipe Liborio, who missed Temple’s last match against Cincinnati, was running around with a brace and also looks primed to play down in Florida.

In terms of the two Finnish players, freshmen forwards Olli Tynkkynen and Joonas Jokinen, MacWilliams said that Tynkkynen is closer to 100 percent than Jokinen, but didn’t rule out both of them playing at some capacity against USF.

 No. 22 USF looms

USF, which is currently ranked No. 22 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, carries a 5-3 overall record, and beat Connecticut 1-0 in an overtime win in its opening American Athletic conference match on Sept. 27.

When it comes to the Bulls, coach David MacWilliams said their tradition and overall quality makes them tough to play.

“They’re very quick and athletic,” MacWilliams said.  “They’re a tough team in transition, a tough team to break down … they’ve made the [NCAA Tournament seven] years in a row, so you’re going up against a lot of history and tradition there.”

The Bulls ended the Owls’ season last year by beating them 1-0 at Ambler in the first round of the American Athletic Conference tournament. MacWilliams said revenge will partially be a factor going into Saturday, but getting a result down in Florida is more important because of their non-conference results.

“Getting beat by them bothered us,” MacWilliams said.  “But I think right now, we’re in a stage where we just want to win games and get results … We just want to be able to play well and get a result down there.”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Corbett Stadium.

Owls ranked No. 14

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Temple moved up a spot in both the national coaches’ poll and the NCAA RPI rankings Tuesday.

The Owls are now ranked No. 14, and No. 12 in RPI (ratings percentage index), after a weekend sweep to wrap up non-conference play.

In back-to-back games, Temple (7-3) came up with a 5-0 shutout against Kent State on Saturday and a 3-2 win against American University on Sunday.

The Owls begin Big East play on the road Friday against Providence (7-3) at 5 p.m.