Author Archives: Joey Cranney

Ice hockey expects win against TCNJ

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After defeating Millersville University handily in the season opener, the ice hockey club will be looking for more of the same when they take on The College of New Jersey in the home opener.

Temple (1-0) ambushed Millersville (0-1) for five goals in the game’s first 10 minutes en route to a 6-3 win last Saturday. Despite the win, coach Jerry Roberts emphasized the importance of maintaining a complete, 60 minute effort from now on.

“From our perspective, we have a much broader view of the season,” Roberts said. “We know that the way our team played in the Millersville game won’t cut it in the bigger games we really want to win.”

Sophomore goalie Eric Semborski will start in goal in the place of starter Chris Mullen, who will have the night off.

“In having goaltenders so close in talent and potential, we want to make sure they both have opportunities to make statements,” Roberts said. “We’re giving Mullen the night off and he’ll be in there Sunday [against Lehigh University].”

Freshman Jon Plester will be Semborski’s backup and could see time against TCNJ, where his older brother Jed plays as a forward.

“Completely unrelated to the fact his brother is playing on the other team, there aren’t many chances to get [Plester] ice time,” Roberts said. “We’re hoping our guys play the way we want them to so that we will have an opportunity to get him playing time [tonight].”

TCNJ is coming off of a Great Northeast Collegiate Hockey Conference championship last year, and will open their season with the Temple game.

As was the case last Saturday with Millersvillle, the expectation from Roberts and the rest of the coaching staff is a win.

“[TCNJ] is similar to Millersville,” Roberts said. “They’re in the same conference and they’re an opponent that we intentionally scheduled in the beginning of the season. We’re expecting a win.”

-Andrew Parent

Volleyball begins A-10 play at home

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Offense will be the key for the Owls as they head into their Atlantic 10 Conference season opener against Rhode Island on Friday.

Temple goes up against a URI squad that lacks a big play threat (no hitter ranks in the Top 10 in the conference) and is one of the worst defenders in the A-10. The team has allowed a .228 hitting percentage (10th in the conference) while only hitting .159 (ninth in the conference).

But coach Bakeer Ganes expects a battle in their first conference match of the year at McGonigle Hall.

“I know [coach Bob Schneck’s] team is going to be very well coached, very well organized, and it’s going to be a battle,” Ganes said.

The Owls will be looking to improve to 11-4 on the year. The match begins at 7 p.m.

–Jake Adams

Women’s soccer opens New York series

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The women’s soccer team will be opening up their first of two games in New York this weekend against Siena on Friday, Sept. 21, at 4 pm.

“Our team loves road trips,” freshman goalkeeper Shauni Kerkhoff said. “Away games allow for our team to bond on the bus more than usual.”

The first match of the road trip on Friday against Siena will be one that the Owls plan to match up well against, coach Matt Gwilliam said.

“We played them in a tough match last year at home,” Gwilliam said. “We dropped that game last year and do not know a whole lot about [Siena] this year.”

Nearly a year ago to date on Sept. 25, 2011, Temple fell to Siena 3-1 at the Ambler Sports Complex. In the match, Owls’ midfielder Kate Yurkovic scored her lone goal of the 2011 season, but it was not enough to answer the Sienna offensive attack.

This week in practice, Temple has addressed the offensive attack as the team looks to finish the many opportunities they have been unable to finish to this point, Gwilliam said.

Temple is entering Friday’s match with a record of 2-5-2, while opposing Siena is 3-4-0 on the season.

“Every game is a new game so you never know what to expect,” Kerkhoff said. “We always expect to win every game, so we will see.”

-John Murrow

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

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