St. Joseph’s looking for revenge

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Ice hockey will get back at it Saturday as it rides a three-game winning streak into its road matchup with St. Joseph’s at the Skatium Ice Skating Rink in Havertown, Pa.

The Owls (11-6) are coming off a thriller shootout win last Friday night at the dispense of Liberty University, and will look to keep to their winning ways with road games with the Hawks on Saturday and NYU Sunday.

The Hawks (3-8-1) will be looking to avenge this matchup’s last result, an 11-1 Temple rout on Oct. 26.

The Owls currently sit in 13th place in the latest southeast American Collegiate Hockey Association ranking, but sit in a second-place tie with Rowan University in the overall southeast ACHA standings with 22 points.

Temple is will be looking to improve to 3-3 in Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association play, while St. Joseph’s will attempt to crack the win column in its fourth MACHA game.

Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.

-Andrew Parent

Mahoney set to compete in NCAA Championships

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Redshirt senior Travis Mahoney will race for the final time in his collegiate career today, as he competes in the 2012 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship at 1:15 p.m. in Louisville.

Mahoney, who was named Mid-Atlantic Regional Athlete of the Year after his first-place victory at regionals, is hoping to become the first Temple All-American in university history.

“I don’t think top 15 is out of the question if he races like he does [at regionals],” coach Adam Bray said. “I think he’s one of the top guys in the country and, to be honest with you, he’s kind of flown under the radar this season because in the past he hasn’t been a true cross country guy. He’s turning into that, before our eyes.”

The men’s race will, like regionals, be a 10k event, while the women will run in a 6k race. Both will be held at The E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.

The Temple News has previously reported that Mahoney would be racing Nov. 19, based off of information provided by the team’s communications department, but has since learned that date to have been incorrect.

-Avery Maehrer

Cross country completes fall competition at ICA4

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Cross country will wrap up its season Saturday as the men’s team will race in the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletics of America Championships and the women’s team participates in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships at Van Courtlandt Park in the Bronx.

“We need to just keep going out there and getting better,” coach Adam Brady said. “It’s another opportunity to go out and race and show what we can do and take some more steps forward.”

At last year’s meet, then-sophomore Will Kellar’s 16th place finish helped the team claim a fifth-place finish of the 16 that participated. The women placed 15th in their race, the highest in program history.

The teams last raced at regionals last weekend, when redshirt senior Travis Mahoney won the event and qualified for the NCAA Championships in Louisville, Ky. Sophomore Jenna Dubrow’s streak of leading the team in races stopped at 10 last week, as junior Anna Pavone finished four seconds earlier.

The men’s team will be without Mahoney, who will race in the national meet on Monday as he attempts to become Temple’s first ever All-American in cross country.

-Avery Maehrer

Turnovers, defense, characterize season

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Women’s Basketball- Barely a weak into the season there are two very important things to notice about this Owls team.

First, they turn the ball over a lot. Second, they know how to play defense.

This comes as a bit of a surprise because typically teams that commit a lot of errors have trouble holding the team off the scoreboard.

If you dismiss the team’s loss to Nebraska, 64-39, the Owls have held their other two opponents, both wins, to an average of 39.5 points. Temple turned the ball over 19 times against Montana and had 26 giveaways against Seton Hall.

This season they’ve allowed just .277 shooting, including .200 from three-point land. Typically an excess of turnovers—the Owls three opponents have committed just 42 turnovers to their 67—leads to easy buckets for the opposing team.

Not the case thus far for Temple, but that trend will have to change if they hope to keep winning.

-Jake Adams

Two Owls earn volleyball honors

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Two Owls received Atlantic 10 Conference awards following a season which saw the team climb from the bottom of the conference to the fifth seed in the playoffs.

The Samoan duo of senior libero Chelsea Tupuola and junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia were named the A-10 Libero of the Year and First Team All-Conference, respectively.

Tupuola also was named to the A-10 Second Team.

Matautia was second in the conference with 4.05 kills per set this season while leading the A-10 with .39 aces per set. Tupuola, who coach Bakeer Ganes has repeatedly claimed is the most important player on his team, lead the conference with 5.3 digs per set. She currently sits in seventh in school history with 1,385 digs.

Both players have been instrumental to the Owls resurrection this season, who stand at 8-6 in the conference heading into their first round match against fourth-seed Duquesne

-Jake Adams

Mahoney named USTFCCCA Regional Athlete of the Year

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Off the heels of his first-place finish at last weekend’s regional race, redshirt senior Travis Mahoney has been named Mid-Atlantic Regional Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, it was announced Tuesday.

Mahoney, who is the first regional champion in school history, is having a career year in cross country having also won the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships last month. His win there catapulted the men’s team to a program-best 4th place finish. Mahoney has already been named A-10 Outstanding Performer of the Year, and has been awarded the same title in track & field three times in his career.

Mahoney will look to become the first cross country All-American in Temple history when he competes in the NCAA Championship in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 19.

–Avery Maehrer

Three-point shooting key in tonight’s match-up

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The women’s basketball team’s loss to Nebraska on Sunday, Nov. 11, ended a big run for the Owls. Prior to the contest Temple had made at least one trey in 100 consecutive games.

While in previous seasons the Owls thrived off three-point shooting, connecting on 31.8 percent from down town last season, this year’s squad isn’t built for long distance shooting.

The team right now has been out shot 52-17 from beyond the arc. Temple has connected on just four of those 17 attempts, shooting 23.5 percent. And only two players are responsible for those connections, sophomore guard Rateska Brown (2-for-5) and freshman guard May Dayan (2-for-4).

In two games Seton Hall, who the Owls host on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Liacouras Center, Temple has allowed their opponents to shoot 10-for-34 from down town.

While Temple relies heavily on getting the ball to senior center Victoria Macaulay, the Owls may need to find a way to open up their long-range attack to hand the Pirates their first loss of the season.

-Jake Adams

Football to compete in Big East West in 2013

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The football team and other new additions to the Big East Conference will compete in the newly established West Division of the conference next season, Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco announced Tuesday.

The 12 teams set to compete in the Big East next season will be split into two, six-team divisions, where the winner of the divisions will meet in the Big East Championship game. Temple will be in the West Division along with other conference newcomers: Boise State, Houston, Memphis, San Diego State and Southern Methodist University.

“I’m not involved with all these meetings here, but for the beginning part of this thing, we will be on the Western side,” coach Steve Addazio said in a press release. “I’m excited to do that. I think that’ll be good. We’ll still have some of our regional games in here, and I think it’s a great new beginning and I’m excited for it.”

Each Big East team will play eight conference games per season, five within its division. That means Temple will have to head out west for at least two games against Western opponents next season. Home/away breakdowns will be announced after the Big East athletic directors meeting on Dec. 3.

Addazio said playing in western markets opens up new doors for recruiting.

“It’s exciting. You’re talking about some great trips and some great programs,” Addazio said. “You’re playing nationally. It’s a national perspective, and I think the kids will enjoy that. When I was at Notre Dame, we played a national schedule. I know that’s a bit of a difference scenario, but it was a cool deal – going to places you’ve never been. It can be very, very exciting. The future is really exciting. I’m thrilled that we’re a part of I,t and I’m looking forward to bringing this young team into that whole new beginning. I think it’s going to be nothing but growth.”

The conference alignment is likely to be revisited after the 2014 season when Navy will be added to the Big East, among other schools, the press release indicated.

Women’s basketball season begins at McGonigle

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The women’s basketball team kicks off the 2012-13 season in the friendly confines of McGonigle Hall when the Owls host Montana on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The Grizzlies finished 16-14 last season, and 9-7 in the Big Sky Conference. The Owls finished 23-10 and 13-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference before falling in the conference semifinals to eventual champion Dayton.

Temple returns standout senior center Victoria Macaulay and redshirt junior forward Natasha Thames. The rest of the team, however, is sophomores and freshmen.

The projected starting lineup for Friday’s game is sophomore Tyonna Williams at the point, freshman May Dayan at shooting guard, freshman forward Sally Kabengano at the three, and Thames and Macaulay.

Cardoza likely won’t decide for sure until Friday shoot-around.

-Jake Adams

Volleyball hosts La Salle with playoffs on the line

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Sitting at 7-6 in the Atlantic 10 Conference the Owls host La Salle (4-25, 0-13 in the A-10) at 5 p.m. at McGonigle Hall with their postseason fate in their own hands.

Temple hosts the Explorers Friday in the regular season finale, looking to make the conference tournament for the first time in three years. A win and they’re in.

But if Temple loses that’s when things get complicated.

Dayton, Xavier, Virginia Commonwealth University and Duquesne are already in the tournament. If the season ended now Temple and George Washington would be in as well. Rhode Island and Butler are fighting for those spots as well, at 6-7 each.

The Owls are 1-1 over URI and lost to Butler on Sunday. They also lost to George Washington, meaning the Owls must hope all three teams lose if they lose to ensure they make the tournament.

The tricky part is if Temple, Butler and George Washington lose and Rhode Island wins. Because the Owls and Rams are 1-1 against each other this season they move to the second tiebreaker, which is head-to-head set record. Temple won the first meeting 3-0 and lost the second 3-2, giving them a 5-3 advantage in the edge in the tiebreaker.

Temple’s match against La Salle is the only A-10 game on Friday. If they lose they will have a long weekend waiting to find out their fate.

Rhode Island heads to Fordham on Saturday to take on the Rams at 4 p.m. George Washington travels to Duquesne on Saturday at 4 p.m. as well. The Colonials faced the Dukes once before this season, winning 3-1 at home on Oct. 5. Butler hosts Saint Louis at 5 p.m. The Bulldogs lost their first matchup of the season in St. Louis 3-1.

Obviously none of that matters if the Owls take care of business on Friday, but if they aren’t able to they will likely spend Saturday watching nervously.

This is the third matchup between Temple and La Salle this season. Temple swept La Salle in straight sets in the finale of the Big 5 Tournament in September. Junior outside hitter Elyse Burkert led the match with 12 kills.

In the A-10 season rematch the Owls swept them again, this time off the combination of junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia’s 15 kills and Burkert’s 11.

–Jake Adams