Youtz injured, Theobald attends game

Junior forward Amber Youtz is out for two to three weeks with a right forearm injury.

Youtz currently leads the team in scoring with eight goals and four assists for 20 points. She is also third in the nation in goals per game with 1.25 and second in points per game with 3.13

The 2012 Atlantic 10 Conference Offensive Player of the Year suffered the injury during the Owls 4-1 win at Villanova on Sept. 20. The ball hit Youtz in the arm when senior midfielder/defender Molly Doyle tried clear the ball out of the defensive zone.

Youtz left the game to get her arm checked out, but came back in shortly after and played the rest of the way, scoring two goals in the second half.

She also played in the team’s next game against Longwood on Sept. 22, but sat out the second half.

Youtz was not on the sidelines for Friday afternoon’s 2-1 win over Rutgers, as she was recovering from her injury.

Temple has been getting more and more attention as the team progresses further into its first Big East season.

Now it has President Neil Theobald’s attention.

Theobald was in attendance for Temple’s 2-1 win against Rutgers on Friday afternoon. It was his first field hockey game and he liked what he saw.

“I had a great time, it’s very exciting,” Theobald said. “It’s a really fast game and about late in the first half I started to begin to understand the rules and boy, the speed with which they play…they are incredibly quick.”

Theobald also had the chance to meet the 17th best team in the country and thinks highly of them.

“They’re really good students,” Theobald said.  “I talked to them before the game, really great kids.”

“There is nothing that wasn’t enjoyable here today,” Theobald added.

Another former Hoosier added to Temple Athletic Department

Pat Kraft was named Temple’s newest Deputy Director of Athletics on Wednesday afternoon.

Kraft, most recently the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director at Loyola University Chicago, will serve under Interim Athletic Director Kevin Clark. In two years at Loyola, Kraft directly managed the external operations of the athletic department. This included marketing, fundraising, ticket sales and media relations.

Before going to Loyola, Kraft worked on the senior athletic staff at Indiana University, where he oversaw all branding and marketing aspects of the teams. He holds three degrees from Indiana: a bachelor’s degree in sports marketing/management earned in 2000, a master’s degree in sports marketing/administration earned in 2005 and a doctorate in sports marketing earned in 2008. As an undergraduate, he was a linebacker on Indiana’s football team.

Kraft, along with Clark, is the second former Hoosier to be hired to the athletic department since Neil Theobald took office in January.

Evan Cross can be reached at evan.cross@temple.edu or on Twitter @EvanCross.