Martinelli earns Rookie of the Week honors

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Freshman standout Jared Martinelli has been named Rookie of the Week by both the Atlantic 10 Conference and Philadelphia Soccer Six after tallying four points in three games.

Martinelli’s stellar week began with two assists in the home opener win against Manhattan, his first two collegiate points. On Friday in California, he recorded another assist against Cal-Poly, setting up redshirt sophomore Chas Wilson for Temple’s only goal of the game. Against Cal State Northridge last night, Jared Martinelli scored his much awaited first goal as an Owl in the 88th minute.

“It feels good to come in and have an impact as a freshman and just create chances for the team,” Martinelli said.

Martinelli, who attended Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg, Pa., ultimately chose Temple against Pittsburgh.

Despite earning the Rookie of the Week honors, he remains humble and focused on growing as a player.

“Personally, I could contribute to the team more by finishing more chances,” Martinelli said. “I could create more opportunities.”

After losing both of their games in California this past weekend, the reigning Rookie of the Week thinks this weekends home stand could be just what the Owls need to get in some kind of groove.

“This week is big for us to get back on track,” Martinelli said. “With a couple of home games, we can get back to .500.”

Temple hosts Saint Peter’s on Friday Sept. 21 and Howard on Sunday Sept. 23. at Ambler Campus.

-Tyler Sablich

Delp named A-10 Rookie of the Week

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After a two-goal performance this weekend against Drexel, freshman forward Alyssa Delp was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Week.

The Fleetwood, Pa. native scored a total of eight points this weekend in games against Delaware and Drexel.

Delp has started all eight games this season for Temple. She has totaled five goals on the year, including two game-winning scores.

With Delp’s two goals on Sunday, she helped the Owls defeat their first ranked opponent since 2009 when Temple beat No. 10 Massachusetts. The win was also the Owls’ first win over Drexel since 2007.

-Colin Tansits

Men’s soccer drops two in California

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The men’s soccer had a tough time handling two Big West Conference teams this weekend.

They departed from Philadelphia on Thursday morning in route to California, where they took on California Poly-Tech on Friday and California State Northridge on Sunday.

Coach David MacWilliams was expecting some quality competition heading into the road trip. Following Fridays matchup, he credited Poly-Tech as being worthy of the Top 20.

“I think we had our legs under us but we played really strong teams,” MacWilliams said. “They have very good teams out here.”

Poly-Tech played a different brand of soccer that may have caught the Owls off guard. Despite a strong defensive effort, the Owls fell 4-1 to the Mustangs. Senior Cody Calafiore admitted that the Owls were probably outmatched, citing their ferocious offensive attack.

“They were an amazing team,” Calafiore said. “We’re not used to that type of soccer.”

Sunday’s game against Cal State Northridge didn’t end much differently. The Owls were heavily outshot 25-7. Freshman Jared Martinelli was able to notch his much awaited first collegiate goal in the 88th minute, but it wasn’t enough to salvage a win for the Owls. The Matadors took the game, 2-1.

The Owls will now have the week off before shuttling to Ambler this weekend to host games against Saint Peter’s and Howard. After dropping both games on the West Coast swing, the Owls have fallen to 1-3-1 in the early going of the 2012 season.

-Tyler Sablich

McCarthy signs with Italian team

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Former Owl Kristen McCarthy will be playing professional ball overseas.

The 2012 graduate signed with Club Atletico Faenza, in Italy, a team that finished sixth in their league last season.

McCarthy joins fellow 2012 graduate Shey Peddy, and 2011 graduate Qwedia Wallace as recent Owls to make the transition to the pro level. Peddy was drafted in the second round by the Chicago Sky of the WNBA in April while Wallace is also overseas.

The combo guard/forward ranks fourth all-time at Temple with 1,619 points in 131 games (most all time), and holds the single-game record with 42 points against Charlotte as a sophomore.

She was an integral of the team’s three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Tonya Cardoza and company return to action in November in their final season in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

-Jake Adams

Women’s soccer squares off against Hartford

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The women’s soccer team will complete their first home series of the season on Sunday when the Owls take on Hartford at the Ambler Sports Complex at 2 pm.

After a 1-0 loss to Drexel on Friday, Sept. 14, the Owls will look to grab their third win at Ambler, as well as their third win of the season.

“Hartford is going to be similar to Drexel,” redshirt-junior forward Jackie Krostek said. “They are going to come at us strong, but our defense is going to have to be strong again.”

Just like Temple, Hartford has yet to win a match on the road this year, as they have posted a record of 0-1-1 away from home. This season, the Owls are 2-1-0 on the season when playing at home.

“[Hartford] is a very offensively gifted team,” coach Matt Gwilliam said. “They have a couple of special kids and we are going to be wary of them.”

Hartford senior Amelia Pereira is one of those special kids, as she currently leads Hartford with thirteen points, five goals and three assists on the season.

“Hartford is a team that we didn’t have much success against last year,” Gwilliam said. “We all remember that, and we want to show them how far our program has come in one year.”

Last season, the Owls fell to Hartford at home 5-1, allowing three goals in the first half, and two goals in the second half. Temple hopes for a different result in this season’s match, Gwilliam said.

“I think Hartford believes they have an easy match again this year,” Krostek said. “I believe they will be in for a big surprise this time.”

-John Murrow

Tournament crown within volleyball team’s reach

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The Owls will take the court in McGonigle one last time this weekend when the host Cornell in the finale of the Temple Invitational Saturday evening.

Temple, who defeated Central Connecticut State University 3-1 and swept Navy 3-0 on Friday, needs one more win to claim the tournament crown. But they will have a tough match against a Cornell squad that dominated the Blue Devils in the final set of a 3-1 win earlier today.

The Big Red hit .305 as a team, led by junior outside hitter Kelly Marble’s 16 kills, 14 digs and five aces.

The Owls were helped out Friday by 18 kills courtesy of senior outside hitter Jingyu Zhang against Central Connecticut, and then 14 kills from junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia against the Midshipmen.

Temple will be looking for their tenth win of the season. The match starts at 5 p.m.

-Jake Adams

Cross country debuts strong at Friend Invitational

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The cross country teams opened their season at the Friend Invitational with two strong first-place finishes from sophomores Cullen Davis and Jenna Dubrow.

As a team, the men’s squad won with 24 total points, beating inter-city rivals La Salle and Saint Joseph’s, who scored 31 and 85 points respectively. On the women’s side, Dubrow’s strong race led to a second-place team finish with 36 team points, trailing La Salle (29), but besting Saint Joseph’s (63).

Dubrow’s first-place finish continues her streak of leading the women’s team in every race so far in her collegiate career. Davis, on the other hand, continues to improve. After a breakout performance in last year’s Atlantic 10 Conference Championships, Davis picked up right where he left off.

Davis was followed by junior Will Kellar, who was the race’s runner-up, while sophomore Matt Kacyon placed fourth overall. Senior Tonney Smith placed sixth overall in the women’s race, while sophomore Chelsea Carleton and senior Rayna Kratchman placed seventh and 10th, respectively.

The Owls will continue their season on Sept. 28 at the Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh University.

-Avery Maehrer

Ice hockey season debuts against Millersville

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Ice hockey coach Jerry Roberts made it clear that when his team walks out of Lancaster Ice Rink after they play Millersville University Saturday, they expect to be walking out on top.

“We structured our schedule so that we could provide our players with an opportunity to get their feet wet in the beginning of the year, and we’re looking at this one as a must win,” Roberts said. “We can’t let this one slip away.”

Temple will open their season with the Millersville game and will have to keep their focus and intensity levels at a maximum in a game in which they appear to be the favorites, Roberts said.

“We’re not the seasoned group we want to be yet, but the one thing we do have control over is our intensity, focus and the ability to execute the game plan,” Roberts said. “If they come out with that drive and intensity, we shouldn’t have to worry about anything else.”

In what is the first test of the season, Roberts will be looking for good performances out of some of the team’s younger players, including freshman forward Jason Marbaich.

“I think [Marbaich] is going to have a good game,” Roberts said. “He’s looked really good in practice and it looks like he wants to show his new teammates what he’s going to bring. We haven’t had a freshman make a major impact in his first game in a long time.”

Millersville finished as the runners up in the Great Northeast Collegiate Hockey Conference last season, and compiled a 16-2-1 record, good for first place in the western division.

The puck is set to drop at 5:45 p.m.

-Andrew Parent

Women’s soccer puts home win streak on the line against Drexel

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The women’s soccer team will be taking on city rival Drexel on Friday, Sept. 14 at 4 p.m. at the Ambler Sports Complex.

“Drexel is going to be a high pressure team,” redshirt junior Jackie Krostek said. “They are going to come at us offensively and hopefully, we can absorb that.”

Entering the match, the Owls have had five home shutouts in a row dating back to last season. With two shutouts this year against New Jersey Institute of Technology and Iona, the Owls can only hope to keep this streak alive against a tough Drexel team, coach Matt Gwilliam said.

Temple (2-4-1) is undefeated (2-0-0) at home.

Drexel (5-1-1) is entering the city rival match against the Owl’s on a two game win streak. Drexel has not lost a match since they opened up the 2012 season against Longwood on Aug. 17.

For Temple, the squad is coming off of a tough 1-0 loss to Princeton on Sunday, Sept. 9. Freshman goalkeeper Shauni Kerkhoff allowed one goal against Ivy League Princeton.

“It is going to be a tough match for us,” Gwilliam said. “I expect a boxing match between the two city rival teams.”

-John Murrow

Home invite begins with Central Connecticut

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The Owls kick off the Temple Invitational Friday afternoon with their first match against Central Connecticut, looking to win their second home match of the season.

Temple enters the match 7-4 coming off a straight-set sweep over New Jersey Institute of Technology on Wednesday night to kick off an eight-game home stand.

Coach Bakeer Ganes has stressed for several weeks that the offense is trying to get junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia more involved. Wednesday night she dropped 12 kills against the Highlanders, tying fellow junior outside hitter Elyse Burkert.

Ganes expects a tough match from the Blue Devils, despite their 5-5 record.

“Central Connecticut usually is pretty solid,” he said. “I think it really comes down to what we’re going to do on our side. We really have to take care of our business.”

The match starts at 4 p.m. in McGonigle Hall.

-Jake Adams