Owls rained out again

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Due to potential rain in the Blacksburg, Va. area, the baseball team has altered their schedule for this weekend’s games against Virginia Tech and Holy Cross.

Originally scheduled to play two games against both teams, Temple (0-2) will now take on Virginia Tech at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23. On Sunday, the Owls will play the final two games of the weekend in a doubleheader against Holy Cross starting at 11 a.m. with the second game scheduled for 6 p.m.

This will be the second weekend in a row for the Owls that the team has lost games due to weather. In the USA Baseball Complex Classic last weekend in Cary, N.C., the Owls were unable to play their final two games against Toledo and Monmouth because of snow.

 

John Murrow can be reached at john.murrow@temple.edu or Twitter @JohnMurrow12.

Owls set for Virginia Tech, Holy Cross

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Following an opening weekend that saw Temple’s final two games cancelled due to weather conditions in Cary, N.C., the Owls will be back on the field on Friday, Feb. 22 against Virginia Tech.

On Friday at 3:00 p.m. and Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Temple (0-2) is set to take on Virginia Tech (4-0) despite potential rain forecasts in the Blacksburg, Va. area. Before their second game against Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Owls will face Holy Cross (0-0) at 12:00 p.m on Saturday. In their final game of the weekend, the Owls will once again play Holy Cross at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24.

“Virginia Tech is an ACC club and they are going to be very talented,” coach Ryan Wheeler said. “They have had the chance to get outside and play some games and I expect them to be very tough. Holy Cross is coming out for the first time this weekend and just as we will, they will be working out their kinks.”

The Owls will be playing an offensively minded Virginia team that likes to show their muscle offensively, Wheeler said. In four games this season, the Hokies have outscored their opponents 34-12.

“Virginia Tech is going to swing,” assistant coach Brian Pugh said. “They are going to get in there and be aggressive. “As far as pitching goes, we have got to execute pitches and try to exploit there weaknesses. We have got some good information on them and we have got to do what we got to do. We have to get ahead in the count and make the hitters be on the defensive side.”

Having tied Temple’s all time lead in appearances on Friday, Feb. 15 in the 8-4 loss to Delaware, redshirt-senior pitcher Steve Visnic will look to set the Owls’ record for appearances in one of the team’s four games this weekend.

“I don’t think [Virginia Tech and Holy Cross] are anything that we cant handle as long as we play our game,” Visnic said. “We just need to stay focused on what we are doing rather than what they are doing and I think we will be alright.”

After last weekend’s tournament in which the Owls gave up 16 runs in two games, eight runs against Wright State and eight runs against Delaware, Temple will look to control their opponents offensive production this weekend, Pugh said.

“We have got a good challenge in front of us this weekend,” Pugh said. “I think we have a chance to do some good things too.”

Tennis prepares for Philadelphia showdown

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The men’s tennis team (2-3, 1-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) will head to Penn (3-1, 0-0 Ivy League) for a match Wednesday at 3 p.m.

In 20 tries, Temple has never beaten Penn in men’s tennis. The Owls will look to break a three-match losing streak this season. The Quakers have not lost a home match all season.

Senior Kacper Rams (0-4) is expected to compete despite a sore shoulder. He will likely face either sophomore Jeremy Court (4-0) or junior Nikola Kocovic (2-1) in the top flight.

Coach Steve Mauro said he anticipates a tough match. This will be the Owls’ last match for 10 days, so they will be looking to go into the short break on a good note.

Temple faces must-win

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The women’s basketball team is set to take on Xavier, Feb. 20 in a must-win game.

The Owls (12-13, 5-5) remain two wins away from clinching an Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament berth, and the Musketeers (9-15, 3-7) present the easiest match-up on paper in Temple’s final four games. Following tonight, the Owls’ opponents get much more difficult with the likes of Dayton, Butler and Fordham. Temple will also look to avoid losing two straight games for the first time in more than a month.

Xavier has had its fair share of struggles this season, but the Musketeers come into McGonigle Hall with two straight wins under their belts. This includes a victory over a LaSalle team that beat Temple by 16 points on Jan. 27. Xavier’s offensive attack is led by redshirt-senior forward Amber Gray, who is averaging 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Junior guard Ashley Wanninger and redshirt-senior forward Jessica Pachko each average 9.5 points per game.

At the very least, this game is an important one for the Owls in terms of their confidence. Even if they fail to pull out two more wins in their final four games, there’s still a chance they make the conference tournament with some significant help. However, a loss to Xavier on its home court this late in the season could break Temple’s spirit.

Temple and Xavier will tip off at 7 p.m. at McGonigle Hall.

Owls face Scarlet Knights in second game

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On Wednesday, February 20th, the Temple Owls (1-0) will host their second game of the season against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-0), at 3 p.m. on Geasey Field.

The Owls and Scarlet Knights both look to continue their momentum, following big wins in their season openers.

Temple is coming off a short week, defeating Niagara last Saturday in an 18-5 rout. Eleven players scored goals against Niagara, including seniors Charlotte Swavola and Kellee Pace, who led the Owls with three goals each.

Rutgers is going into Wednesday’s game following a Feb. 10 victory against Manhattan, which ended 15-5. The Scarlet Knights are led by junior Katrina Martinelli, who recorded five goals and three assist, against Manhattan, and was named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll.

The Owls and Scarlet Knights played with two goalkeepers in their first games of the season. Temple divided their goalkeeping between senior Meghan Clothier and redshirt freshman Jaqi Kakalecik. Rutgers’ senior goalies Lily Kalata and Aimee Chotikul both saw the field, against Manhattan.

Both Clothier and Kalata recorded three saves and the win, in their season opening starts.

In last year’s matchup, played in New Brunswick, N.J, the Owls edged the Scarlet Knights in a 12-11 comeback win.

Women face easiest remaining test in Xavier

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When the Owls take on Xavier Wednesday, it will mark the final time this season that the they face a team with a sub-.500 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

On paper, Temple’s easiest chance for one more win comes against the Musketeers as they look to lock up a seed in the A-10 Tournament. The Owls lost Sunday to crosstown rival St. Joseph’s, keeping their magic number for a postseason berth at two.

The Musketeers don’t have the firepower of recent opponents. Led by redshirt-senior forward Amber Gray, who averages 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, Xavier is scoring 60.4 points per game.

However, three other players average at least nine points per game.

One of Temple’s strengths is shutting down the marquee player on a team’s roster and forcing another player or players to beat them. But the Musketeers don’t provide that opportunity for the Owls.

The game is the second to last home game the Owls have this season. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Baseball games cancelled due to weather

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The final two games of the USA Baseball Complex Classic in Cary, N.C., were cancelled due to rain and snow in the area early Saturday morning.

Temple was originally scheduled to play Monmouth at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, but the weather forecast in the area had the game rescheduled in attempt to beat the projected conditions. The Owls were then scheduled to play Toledo at 11 a.m. on Saturday, which was then cancelled due to the weather shortly after noon Saturday.

“The snow is really coming down [in Cary, N.C.] and rather than us waiting, they have cancelled the rest of the games this weekend,” coach Ryan Wheeler said.

Both games against Monmouth and Toledo were cancelled for Saturday and Sunday, sending Temple back to Philadelphia earlier than scheduled. After back-to-back games Friday, the first time that the team has been on a field since the fall, the team will take the week to practice for next weekend at Virginia Tech, Wheeler said.

After starting the season yesterday against Wright State with an 8-3 loss, the Owls later fell to Delaware 8-4.

Temple will leave the tournament and begin the season with a record of 0-2-0. The Owls next chance to improve their record will be on Friday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. as they head down to Blacksburg, Va., to face Virginia Tech.

Three Owls will compete at Junior Olympic Fencing championships

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This weekend four members of the women’s fencing team will have a chance to show their talent off at the national level.

Freshmen Demi Antipas, Jessica Hall, Petra Khan and Olivia Wynn will all be competing at the Junior Olympic Fencing championships. This weekend the four Owl competitors will not be competing against other schools, rather the fencers from across the country that fall in their age groups. The four freshmen are the only ones competing because of the age restrictions on the junior event.

Antipas and Wynn will compete in the foil event, Hall in epee and Khan in sabre. In the foil event Antipas and Wynn will compete in a bracket that is comprised of 160 competitors, Hall will compete with 181 competitors and Khan’s bracket has 133 entrants.

The event was not posted to the Owls’ schedule until just this week and will be held in Baltimore, MD.

Owls miss ACHA tournament

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For Temple ice hockey, lightning has officially struck twice.

The Owls (17-12, 5-5 MACHA North) have missed out on the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II regional tournament for the second consecutive season, placing 11th with 95 points in a rankings system in which the Top 10 teams with the lowest cumulative ranking score make the regional tournament.

Temple finished just shy of the 94-point mark from 10th place University of Maryland (8-8-2, 5-3 MACHA South), while also placing 11th in the regional standings for the second year in a row.

The Owls swapped places with Maryland in the final rankings after Temple held the 10th spot in the December version, while the Terrapins sat on the outside looking in at 11th.

The Owls will play out their final weekend of the season in Abington, Md. for the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association tournament with the fourth seed in the MACHA North, and will open the tournament with No. 1 Penn State (20-4-1, 9-0 MACHA North) Friday.

The Ice Lions have swept the Owls in two regular season games thus far, and will look to end Temple’s season for the second consecutive year after bouncing the Owls from the MACHA Tournament’s semifinal round this time last year.

Game time is set to start at 8:30 p.m.

Temple to host Niagara

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This Saturday, at 1 p.m., the Temple Owls will host the Niagara Purple Eagles, on Geasey Field.

Last season, the Owls finished with a record of (9-8, 3-4 Atlantic 10 Conference), recently picked to finished fourth in the A-10 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

The Purple Eagles finished 2012 with a record of (3-11, 0-6 ) and picked to finish seventh in the 2013 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

Although the Owls have lost four of the last six season openers, coached by seventh year coach Bonnie Rosen, the team looks to start strong, this year.

The 2012 season opened with a home win against Oregon, which led to a 5-0 non-conference start. The Owls look to repeat those results, in 2013, with Saturday’s home opener being the first of a four home game stretch.

After the loss of multiple starters to graduation and addition of thirteen freshmen, the Owls’ game against Niagara will likely mark the first career start for several players and the first real game action, for freshmen in the rotation.

This game will be the first ever matchup of the Temple and Niagara lacrosse teams.