Addazio accepts position at Boston College

Posted on by

Steve Addazio has accepted the head coaching position at Boston College, a Temple source confirmed.

Addazio went 13-11 in two seasons at Temple. He went 9-4 in his first season in 2011, including the program’s first bowl win since 1979 in a 37-15 victory at the Gildan New Mexico Bowl.

“Steve Addazio has done a tremendous job with Temple Football in his two years at the University, and we wish him nothing but the best,” Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw said in a press release. “Temple Football has never been stronger, and I am confident we will be able to attract a high-level pool of candidates for the position and the program will continue its upward momentum.”

Addazio will fill the hole at Boston College left by former coach Frank Spaziani, who was fired after the Eagles’ 2-10 finish this year, his fourth season with the team. Spaziani went 21-29 at Boston College.

Addazio informed the team of his departure personally at a team meeting at approximately 5 p.m. Players were seen walking from the meeting on their phones or huddled in groups talking.

Freshmen linebackers Tyler Matakevich and Rob Dvoracek Tweeted “wow” at 5:18 p.m. and 5:35 p.m., respectively. Junior defensive back Abdul Smith Tweeted “At the end of the day these coaches only look out 4 themselves. They sell you on a lie that only benefits them.”

Redshirt-junior quarterback Chris Coyer Tweeted “Well. Here we go again. 3 coaches in 5 years. Whatever just grinding that much harder to get where we wanna go next year”

A national search for Addazio’s replacement will begin immediately, the press release indicated.

Shuffle of guards, less turnovers

Posted on by

Lost in Wednesday’s win over Bowling Green was coach Tonya Cardoza’s decision to start freshman guard Erica Covile over freshman guard May Dayan.

At least for one game the results speak for themselves.

Covile was 4-for-7 on the night, making her first start of the season from the two position. She finished with eight points, six boards, two blocks and a steal in 29 minutes of action.

Dayan was solid off the bench, going two for four for six points and a rebound. But while she dished out two assists she also turned the ball over three times in 17 minutes.

That’s the biggest difference on the night, and on the season. Dayan has been far more careless with the ball. Covile had zero turnovers despite playing more minutes.

While she single-handedly didn’t make the difference in that department for the Owls, who had a season low 14 giveaways, it is a start.

It’ll be interesting to see if Cardoza sticks with Covile for the time being.

-Jake Adams

Women’s basketball hosts Syracuse

Posted on by

The women’s basketball team will look to build on their well-balanced effort last time out in Sunday’s game against Syracuse.

The Owls cruised to a 70-56 win against Bowling Green last week to improve to 4-2 on the season. Temple’s 14 turnovers against the Falcons were a season-low after averaging 24 giveaways per game through the first five games.

Coach Tonya Cardoza said, following the loss to Rutgers, that it was imperative her team begin to protect the ball, and it seemed as though the Owls reacted well to those words. Freshman small forward Sally Kabengano had a career night, recording 17 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Sophomore point guard Tyonna Williams committed a season-low two turnovers.

The Orange may prove to be Temple’s most daunting task thus far. Syracuse will bring a 7-0 record into Philadelphia. They’re coming off a one-point against Virginia last weekend.

Six-foot-4-inch senior center Kayla Alexander leads the Syracuse attack. She averages 20.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game to go along with 34 blocks. Temple senior center Victoria Macaulay going toe to toe with Alexander may be a key component in how the game turns out.

Temple vs. Syracuse tips off at 2 p.m. Sunday in McGonigle Hall.

-Tyler Sablich

Fencing competes in last tournament of fall

Posted on by

The fencing team will compete at the Vassar Invitational in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., tomorrow.

Along with host Vassar College, Temple’s fencers will compete against student-athletes from Penn State, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Princeton, North Carolina, New York University and Sacred Heart.

Temple will have five competitors in the foil competition: freshman Demi Antipas, junior Epiphany Georges, freshman Fatima Largaespada, senior Mikayla Varadi, and freshman Olivia Wynn.

Georges is the best hope for a medal in this group. She won a silver medal at the Temple Open on Oct. 27, and placed fourth at the Penn State Open on Nov. 3. Varadi got the bronze at the Temple Open. Georges, Varadi, Antipas and Largaespada all made the semifinal in both tournaments so far.

In epee, the Owls will have four athletes: senior Jill Bratton, freshman Jessica Hall, junior Kimberly Howell and junior Chantal Montrose. Howell is the only medalist this year in this group, getting a bronze at the Temple Open. Only Bratton has made the semifinals in both tournaments.

Temple will have six entrants in the sabre competition: sophomore Emily Dodson, junior Tasia Ford, junior Andrea Haley, sophomore Tiki Kastor, freshman Petra Khan, and sophomore Lauren Rangel-Friedman.

Kastor is the most likely medalist from that group, having won the Owls’ only gold medal so far this year, at the Temple Open. She also finished sixth at the Penn State Open. Ford and Rangel-Friedman have made the semifinals in both tournaments, while Kastor joins Georges as the only Temple fencers to make the finals both times.

The meet kicks off at 10 a.m.

-Evan Cross

Ice hockey faces Maryland in MACHA showdown

Posted on by

After a nearly two-week layoff, the Owls will take on  Maryland tonight in its seventh Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association contest of the season. It will be the only regular season match-up between the conference rivals this season.

To coach Jerry Roberts, Maryland possesses several similar qualities to a familiar foe.

“They’re a lot like [MACHA rival Rider University],” Roberts said. “[Maryland] has depth. They don’t have any big superstars but they do have a lot of players who are capable of beating you. They played Rider twice, one went to OT and one was a one-goal game. Having not seen them yet [this season], that’s what we’re preparing for.”

Temple (12-7) had previously won four consecutive games before a 6-2 loss to NYU its last time out on Nov. 18. The Owls have won four of their previous five after taking a 9-3 beating from Montclair University on Oct. 27.

“The guys feel confident right now,” Roberts said. “We feel good about the progress we made after the Montclair shellacking. Even after the loss to NYU, we were able to pick up lessons after that game and move forward.”

Temple is 5-4 in MACHA play this season, while Maryland is 3-7. The Owls sit in the 10th and final postseason-qualifying spot in the  American Collegiate Hockey Association Southeast Region, according to the November rankings. Maryland is currently on the outside looking in with the 12th spot.

“The ranking implications of this game are huge,” Roberts said. “You’re expected to beat teams behind you and it’s detrimental to your cause if you can’t beat the teams behind you. … This is a game that we should win and a game that we have to win. We can’t afford to lose this game.”

Senior forward Chris Johnson will be held out due to an upper-body injury, Roberts confirmed. Junior goalie Chris Mullen will get the nod in net.

Game time at Maryland’s Wells Ice Arena is set to start at 8:15 p.m.

-Andrew Parent

Bradshaw talks conference re-alignment

Posted on by

Temple Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw confirmed the notion that money is what’s driving the recent surge of conference re-alignment in an interview with Harry Donahue of 1210 AM WPHT during halftime of the men’s basketball game Wednesday night.

Bradshaw, speaking to any Temple fans worried about the school’s future prospects in a fractured Big East Conference, said the revenue the Big East draws negates any problems the conference may have with schools leaving.

“If anyone’s confused and frustrated, just know one thing: It’s the color green,” Bradshaw said. “Think of the color green, and that answers all of your questions.”

The Big East admitted Tulane for all sports and East Carolina for football, effective the 2014-15 season, on Tuesday. The moves have come the same week as announcements made by Rutgers and Louisville indicating their intent to leave the Big East before the 2014 season.

While Bradshaw said the recent shifting of teams has been frustrating, he maintains Temple is in a good place in the Big East.

“As soon as you get comfortable, it seems like something pops up,” Bradshaw said. “And as soon as someone makes a statement saying they’re never going to leave the league, look out, something’s coming. We don’t know when it’s going to end, what’s more important is how we react to it.”

Bradshaw said Temple should still feel optimistic about the Big East due to the conference’s access to BCS bowls, the prestige and exposure of Big East basketball and the media rights deal being negotiated for Big East football and basketball.

“I think it’s going to be very lucrative, particularly with the markets being brought into the Big East, such as San Diego, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Orlando, and certainly Philadelphia,” Bradshaw said. “All those markets are going to mean more eyeballs, more exposure and hopefully more revenue.”

Though Bradshaw remained hopeful for Temple, he couldn’t say the same about the state of conference alignment in college football.

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, there’s another big shark sighting out there,” Bradshaw said. “The question is: What does it all mean? It’s going to be very important as we move ahead.”

Men’s basketball adds two recruits

Posted on by

The men’s basketball team has officially signed two recruits to National Letters of Intent for during the early signing period of the 2013 class, it was announced in a press release Wednesday.

Josh Brown (St. Anthony’s) and Kyle Green (Camden Catholic) become the first two members of Temple’s 2013 recruiting class.

Brown is a 6-foot-3-inch guard from Irvington, N.J. who averaged nine points, five rebounds and four assists last season. He played with UCLA freshman Kyle Anderson under coach Bobby Hurley at St. Anthony’s High School.

Green is a 6-foot-5-inch guard from Woodbury Heights, N.J. who averaged 22.7 points per game last season at Camden Catholic High School.

“We are excited to add these fine young men to the Temple Basketball family,” coach Fran Dunphy said in a statement. “They are both upstanding citizens who come from wonderful families.  We are looking forward to great things from them, both on the court and in the classroom, during their Temple careers.”

Addazio opens up at season’s end

Posted on by

Steve Addazio was in rare form in his last weekly press conference of the year at Edberg Olson Hall Tuesday afternoon.

A candid Addazio said he isn’t surprised by his team’s 4-7 finish, and that he expected to win four to six games. He spoke of the team’s youth and lack of depth as ongoing issues that the Owls couldn’t overcome during the strain of the Big East Conference season.

“Basically through the year, there was a theme where we’d have those moments where we’d come unglued a little bit and we didn’t have the ability to overcome that,” Addazio said. “I think what you saw was a young, inexperienced team making a transition this year.”

Though he noted the Big East move as a reason for the team’s struggle, Addazio maintained that it was still the best move for Temple.

“The best thing that happened was that we went right into this league,” Addazio said. “There was going to be an adjustment period. I’d rather have the youth and the adjustment period in one shot. I think we’re better for it.”

Addazio said he feels motivated by the offseason do the team’s losing season, the first he’s experience since he was offensive coordinator at Indiana in 2004.

“I’m disappointed that we’re not playing in a bowl game right now,” Addazio said. “I’m disappointed that we’re not practicing right now. I’m not used to this. But I can’t look you in the eye and say we aren’t where I thought we’d be.”

But his concern with the past season was met with his optimism for next season, which he said will begin with the most competitive offseason program Temple’s ever had, starting Tuesday.

“I don’t want to put forward this thing like Rome’s built in a day and next year we’ll be good to go. It’s a process,” Addazio said. “I just like where we’re headed. We’re going to get better and continue to grow.”

“I’ve had a chance to talk to a lot of guys in our league that I know and they’ve all said the same thing, ‘Boy, you’ve got a good young football team,'” Addazio added. “Your kids play really hard.’ It’s a resounding theme, it’s not bs. Our kids do play hard. They do compete.”

Addazio gave a nine-minute opening statement before fielding questions about what went wrong this season, his team’s offseason preparation and his take on conference re-alignment.

When asked about the recent addition of Tulane into the conference, Addazio wouldn’t comment on the matter, because it was the first he had heard of it.

Women’s basketball hosts Rutgers

Posted on by

The women’s basketball team will look to win its third straight game in a home game at 7 p.m. tonight against Rutgers at McGonigle Hall.

After knocking off Seton Hall and Northeastern last week, the Owls will bring a 3-1 record against the Big East Conference’s Scarlet Knights. Rutgers is 1-1 with a win against George Washington and an opening night loss to Georgia.

Wednesday’s Thanksgiving Eve game will feature two centers who lead their respective sides in scoring.

Temple is led by senior center Victoria Macaulay, who is averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds per game in the early going of the season. The Owls’ second leading scorer is freshman small forward Sally Kabengano, who is averaging six points per game.

Through their first two games, senior center Monique Oliver leads Rutgers with 13 points and 8 rebounds per game. Senior guard Erica Wheeler and senior forward Chelsey Lee both average nine points per game.

After a sloppy win against Northeastern on Saturday in which the Owls committed 29 turnovers, coach Tonya Cardoza said following the game that a performance like that will not be good enough to beat a team like Rutgers.

The Scarlet Knights have received votes to be included in the NCAA National Rankings.

-Tyler Sablich

Mahoney an All-American

Posted on by

Redshirt senior Travis Mahoney placed 37th today at the NCAA Championships in Louisville, becoming the first Temple All-American in cross country history.

 Mahoney, who is the Atlantic 10 Conference champion and Mid-Atlantic regional champion, finished today’s 10k race with a time of 28:59.6. He has previously earned All-American honors twice before for performances in track and field.
Being the last event of the season, Mahoney has now concluded his collegiate running career. He had previously voiced a desire to win the conference, regionals, and to become an All-American in cross country. Mahoney has achieved all three of those goals.
-Avery Maehrer