Temple hits the road for the second time this season to play the University of Delaware on Friday night.
A 3-1 record kickstarted the Owls’ season and gave them the No. 11 spot in the national rankings, but Delaware hasn’t been a struggling team either.
The Blue Hens have also gotten off to a 3-1 start, beating Ohio, Central Michigan and Lafayette in three of their first four games. Their one loss came from a 2-1 defeat in overtime to Boston University on Sept. 2.
Defense has been one of Temple’s greatest strengths in a still very young season, holding their opponents to an average of two goals per game.
The case appears to be the same for Delaware as well, as they have held opponents to an average of 1.75 goals per game.
Delaware has senior Sarah Scher in goal, who has made 17 saves, with a 1.73 goals against average and a .708 save percentage so far this season.
Her save percentage is lower than redshirt junior goalkeeper and co-captain Lizzy Millen’s, but Millen has made over twice as many saves.
After stopping 35 shots, Millen has a 1.99 goals against average and the ninth best save percentage in the nation with .814.
Millen has been doing a great job as Temple’s last line of defense and will need to keep it up in order to help the Owls continue to succeed.
On the offense, senior midfielder/defender and co-captain Molly Doyle and junior forward Amber Youtz are tied for the team lead in points. Both of them have 10 points, four goals and two assists.
Doyle has been very effective on penalty corners, scoring all three of her goals from last weekend on penalty corners.
Meanwhile, Youtz has shown no signs of slowing down since leading the team in scoring last season. She has scored in three of the Owls first four games, two of which came last Sunday against Richmond, with the last being the overtime game-winner.
Sophomore midfielder Michaela Patzner leads Delaware with four goals, two assists and 10 points. She scored her last goal against Central Michigan a week ago.
When Temple hits the field tonight they will do so as a nationally ranked team for the first time in 12 years, but right now, it doesn’t look like the Owls will let that be a reason to ease up.
“The team is staying pretty calm about it,” coach Amanda Janney said. “Every day at practice I challenge them with something new to keep them fresh and engaged.”
