Temple ice hockey will be a shorthanded bunch for its Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association matchup with Virginia Tech tonight at Northeast Skatezone.

Temple (7-3) will be without two top forwards in junior Joe Pisko and freshman Jayson Marbach, as well as its starting goalie in junior Chris Mullen to suspensions due to a late-game brawl in a 5-2 loss to Rowan University last week.

Sophomore Eric Semborski will handle the goalie duties in place of Mullen.

The Owls will be looking to bounce back from their loss at Rowan last week with their first MACHA win of 2012-13. Temple is 0-2 in MACHA play this season.

The Hokies (5-4) will be looking to rebound after two consecutive losses against the University of Maryland and MACHA rival University of Maryland – Baltimore County.

Game time is set for 9:30 p.m.

-Andrew Parent

Temple ice hockey thought it was playing Marist College in day two of the Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association Division II showcase until a schedule change last night.

The last minute change in opposition apparently didn’t faze Temple ice hockey as the Owls knocked off Texas State University by a resounding 9-3 score.

After falling in a 2-0 hole, Temple outscored Texas State 9-1 the rest of the way en route to the win. Freshman forward Dave Brewer netted his first three goals in a Temple uniform with a hat trick, and senior defenseman Jordan Lawrence scored his first goal in almost two years.

Senior forward Sean Nealis also had his second consecutive two-goal game after going scoreless in Temple’s first five contests.

Freshman forwards Cody Vassa and Jayson Marbach also added goals for the Owls, with Vassa scoring twice.

“We had a horrific first period,” coach Jerry Roberts said.“We were down 2-0 and we turned it around in final two periods. We were disappointed in everything we did in first period, but bounced back well.

Brewer had gone scoreless in his first five Temple games before his three-goal outburst against Texas State.

“He’s by far our most underrated player,” coach Jerry Roberts said.“It was nice to see him get some recognition with the hat trick tonight and really plan on him being a big part of offensive core the next few years.”

Sophomore goalie Eric Semborskihad his first start of the weekend in net.

The Owls will face East Carolina University tomorrow at 9 p.m. for their last game of this year’s ACHA showcase.

“They’re in our conference and we haven’t played them in two years,” Roberts said. “They’re a decent team and they’re a team who is capable of beating us if we’re not committed to executing our game plan. If we do that and keep our focus throughout, we should be fine.”

-Andrew Parent

After a two-game stretch on Friday that ended shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday, the Owls left the Cabin John arena last night with a split as part of the Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association Division II showcase.

A 12:45 p.m. matchup with Wagner College turned into an 8-5 shootout that saw senior forward Sean Nealis net his first two goals of the year in the Temple win.

Freshman forwards Greg Malinowski and Jayson Marbach added goals. Junior forward Joe Pisko, Sophomore defenseman Chris Carnivale, and senior defenseman Andrew Trainor also had tallies for the Owls.

Freshman goalie Jon Plester got the start in his Temple debut in a game in which many of Temple’s younger players got the opportunity to play.

The Owls then faced off with Siena at a late 10:30 start time and fell 4-1.

Marbach scored the only goal for Temple in a game where Siena maintained control throughout.

The Owls will take on Marist College today for their third ACHA showcase contest. Sophomore goalie Eric Semborski will start.

Game time is set for 3 p.m.

-Andrew Parent

Temple ice hockey will see a lot of ice this weekend when they travel to Rockville, Md. for the Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association Division II showcase.

The Owls will play four games in three days, starting with Wagner College and Siena University Friday.

Freshman forward Jayson Marbach and junior forward Joe Pikso head into the weekend as the leading scorers for Temple with nine points each. Marbach will look to continue his performance from last weekend, in which he racked up six points in games against Montclair State and Penn State Universities.

Wagner will come in having faced Georgetown Univerisity just hours prior at 10:30 p.m. last night. Siena will figure to pose a challenge for Temple despite their 0-2-1 record.

Temple is 4-1 and will look to build on their record this weekend.

Temple will face Wagner at 12:45 p.m. and Siena at 9 p.m. Friday, respectively.

-Andrew Parent

After an overtime thriller victory against Montclair State University Saturday, Temple ice hockey will look to use any remaining momentum today against an ACHA Division II powerhouse in Penn State University.

PSU is coming off a 12-1 drubbing of Rider University last night in their Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association opener, and is widely thought of as the top team in Division II by many, including Temple coach Jerry Roberts.

“We are confident that we are prepared as much as we possibly can be going into a game like this,” Roberts said.“This game’s going to be a huge challenge. They’re one of the best teams in the country, but if there was a team that could knock them on their feet, it’s us.”

The Owls (4-0) will look to keep their unbeaten streak alive with a win against a Penn State team that had Temple’s number a year ago with two defeats, the latter coming in the postseason.

“The guys absolutely feel like they have something to prove against [PSU]. There’s a sense of excitement about it and the guys are looking forward to it. We want to prove last year was a fluke for us.”

Junior Chris Mullen will again get the start in net after racking up 39 saves against Montclair.

Solid goaltending along with tight defense will be a must against the Ice Lions, a team that boasts a star-studded offense from top to bottom.

“We need to keep their offense at bay,” Roberts said. “They are an aggressive offensive-minded team. They have no problems getting into shootouts and we need to play tight defensively. If we do that we’ll be just fine.”

Game time is set for 2 p.m. today at Northeast Skatezone.

-Andrew Parent

Temple ice hockey will be tested this weekend in a pair of games with America Collegiate Hockey Association rivals Montclair State University and Penn State University at home.

Although the season is young,Coach Jerry Roberts knows that this weekend is a big one for his team.

“Both of these games this weekend are huge,” Roberts said.“There are about 10 games you circle on the schedule as a team and two of them are back to back this weekend.”

First up will be Montclair State team today that mirrors Temple in several ways, according to Roberts.

“Montclair’s going to be interesting because we’re two identical teams,” Roberts said. They went to [the ACHA Division Two National Tournament] two years ago like we did, and were completely shutout in regionals last year. Much like us, they re-tooled during the summer and got a lot better. That game’s going to be really interesting.”

Much of the weekend will hinge on the production from the Owls’ top lines, including the top forward line of freshman Jayson Marbaich, junior Joe Pisko, and senior Chris Brennan.

“We’re going to need production from that line,” Roberts said.“We’ve talked about how they’re getting really close and there’s potential there, but in order to us to be successful this weekend that line needs to be up and running.”

Senior forward Sean Nealis is back in the lineup today after sitting out Sunday at Lehigh with a shoulder injury. He will fill in for freshman forward Cody Vassa, who will sit out tonight due to a violation of team rules.

Junior goalie Chris Mullen will get the start in net.

The puck will drop at 8:30 pm at Northeast Skatezone.

-Drew Parent

It took 65 minutes of play and a shootout, but Temple ice hockey eventually escaped Lehigh with its third win in as many games.

Freshman Dave Brewer put in the go-ahead goal in the shootout and sophomore goalie Eric Semborski made the final savefor a 3-2 shootout win over Lehigh University Sunday.

Freshman forward Greg Malinowski scored in his Temple debut to get the Owls on the board in the second period.

Lehigh then had back-to-back goals in the third, the latter goal coming with 5:09 left to play. Semborski then replaced starter Chris Mullen, who was tagged with a 10 minute game misconduct after the second Lehigh goal.

Junior forward Joe Pisko responded about a minute later with a game-tying tally that eventually forced overtime.

Malinowski and freshman forward Jason Marbaich also scored for Temple in the shootout.

Temple improved to 3-0 after the win, and capped a weekend sweep after beating the College of New Jersey 5-2 on Friday night.

Though the Owls are rolling with three straight wins to begin the season, they will be challenged next weekend when they take on Montclair State and Penn State Universities on Saturday and Sunday respectively, both at Northeast Skatezone.

Saturday’s contest is slated to start at 8:30 pm.

-Drew Parent

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