The Owls Earn Their First Win of the Season, Blank LIU 5-0

Written by: Miles Bailey

Photo by: Temple Athletics

The Temple Women’s Soccer Team (1-5-4) used four first half goals to cruise past LIU (3-7-3) for the Owls’ first win of the season.

The Owls five goals were a season high, and the most they have scored since Sep. 17, 2017. During the team’s first nine contests, they only scored two goals, just one coming from the run of play.

The only players to score a goal before Saturday’s contest were Emily Kavauagh and Roisin McGovern, her goal coming from a free kick.

The Owls had four players score goals against LIU. Those players were Kathryn Coritz (two goals), Sumaya Togba, Jillian Allgood, and Carly Steinberg. 

“Going into this goal I was just ready,” Jillian Allgood said. “I was like this one’s mine this one’s mine, and once it hit my head, it went in, I was just so ready to keep going.”

Just like any other winless team, the Owls had a great sense of urgency going into this game. The team wanted to finally get that monkey off their back. 

“I think it was all just building up, and I think we were all just ready for that first win,” Allgood said. “I think this just really brought our spirits high going into the next game.”

Not only has it been a rough season for the players, but it also has been for the head coach, Nick Bochette. 

Bochette felt rejoiced, and he was very pleased with the way the team performed against LIU.

“Just happy for that group of girls who have put in a whole lot of work,” Nick Bochette said. “We’ve had plenty of good performances that had to pay off.”

The difference between this game and the previous games was night and day. There were some noticeable improvements in the team’s play. 

After some early foul trouble, they were aggressive on the offensive end for the rest of the match.

“We were more ruthless in our finishing,” Bochette said. “We were more clinical in our finishing, and we showed more quality in the attacking third.”

The team as a whole played exceptionally well. Outside of the players that scored goals, others contributed to the stat sheet as well. 

Phoebe Hollin notched two assists and Moa Andersson also chipped in with an assist. Kyla Burns played solid all around in the net, as she had six saves. 

The Owls are back at the Temple Sports Complex on Thursday at 7:00, as they take on UCF.