Temple Field Hockey Earns first Big East Victory
WRITTEN BY: JACOB GUZDEK
Temple defeated Georgetown 4-1 on Friday night, but the close score doesn’t accurately depict the Owls’ dominant performance.
The Owls finished the game with 21 shots on goal, while generating eight penalty corners. The Hoyas, on the other hand, finished with just six shots on goal and six penalty corners.
“We came into this game just really hungry to get a win,” senior back Ali Meszaros said. “We came out ready to win, and it was one of the best games in which we worked together as a team.”
It was Georgetown who got on the board first, as they took a 1-0 lead just 5:30 minutes into the game when senior midfielder Maria McDonald found the back of the net off an assist from sophomore forward Helena Masiello.
That goal was the last shining moment for the Hoyas. Through the rest of the game, the Temple’s defense was successful in shutting down Georgetown’s offense, holding the Hoyas to just two shots on goal and one penalty corner in the first half and four shots on goal and five penalty corners in the second half.
“Our team defense really stepped it up today,” Meszaros said. “Myself along with my co-captain Paige [Gross], Becky [Gerhart], Nellie [Doyle], and our goalkeeper Maddie [Lilliock], we all stick together and communicated really good out there today.”
The Owls’ offense also showed up to play on Friday. Freshman midfielder Maddie Merton tallied two goals, her third and fourth of the season. Junior midfielder Rachel Mueller and junior forward Maiyah Brown each added goals of their own, putting Temple’s total at four on the night.
After the Hoyas’ early goal, the Owls evened the game at 1-1 in the 12th minute when Merton scored her first of the game, finding the back of the net on a rebound off a corner.
The two teams went into the break tied 1-1, but it was only a matter of time before the Temple’s offense broke through after finishing the first half with ten shots on goal and 5 penalty corners.
Six minutes into the second half, Mueller scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season, as she put home a rebound off a corner to give the Owls a 2-1 lead.
Just six minutes later, Brown made a bold run up the sideline, cut in towards the goal and slid the ball past the Georgetown’s senior goaltender Rachel Skonecki, giving the Owls a 3-1 lead.
Merton capped off the Owls’ scoring in the 61st minute with her second goal of the game on a bullet shot from the top of the circle.
The one thing that kept the Hoyas close in this game was Skonecki’s standout play. The goalie finished with 16 saves, including a number of sliding saves on Temple breakaways.
“It was a good overall team win tonight,” Temple head coach Marybeth Freeman said. “We had a lot of contributions from a lot of people, both on the field and off, as our energy on the bench was great as well.”
The Owls will take a break from conference play, as they host Holy Cross on Sunday at noon at Howarth Field. They will resume conference play next Friday when they take on Old Dominion at home.
