Youtz, Delp lead field hockey to comeback win

Amber Youtz notched her second straight hat trick and Alyssa Delp scored the game-winning goal in a 5-4 win.

Coming off of a high-scoring win Saturday, the field hockey team improved their record to 5-5 Sunday with a 5-4 come from behind against Bucknell.

Sophomore forward Amber Youtz recorded her second hat trick in as many games and freshman Alyssa Delp scored her third game-winning goal with only five minutes left in the second half.

“I cut out towards the middle and kind of blocked the goalie, and at the last second I stepped off and got open,” Delp said.

The Owls started off the scoring early with a goal from Youtz less than six minutes into the game.

Bucknell responded quickly with a goal of their own a minute later by senior defender Tayler Siegrist.

The Bison then broke the tie seconds before halftime with a goal from the top of the circle by senior midfielder Kelly Stefanowicz.

Temple struggled early in the second half to find any offense, and coach Amanda Janney said that Bucknell’s style of defense was a big challenge.

“The defensive style of Bucknell was a little different than [Colgate] so it took us a while to get used to what was going on and our passing game wasn’t really on,” Janney said.

The Bison scored again early in the second half on a goal by freshman forward Emily Hitchings, making the score 3-1.

Delp said that even down two goals, the team kept working together.

“Everybody didn’t just put their heads down, we were all really motivational on the field and encouraging each other,” Delp said. “We kept working so that every time they would score we’d try to put it back as soon as possible.”

The Owls made a strong push only minutes after Bucknell’s third goal, with sophomore midfielder Nicole Kroener scoring off a penalty stroke, making the score 3-2.

Youtz then took over the game.

The sophomore forward scored an unassisted goal only 23 seconds after Kroener’s penalty stroke, putting the game back to a tie at 3-3.

Bucknell scored for their last time off of a penalty corner, with Siegrist recorded her second goal of the contest to give the Bison a 4-3 lead.

With 19 minutes left in the second half, the Owls pulled sophomore goalkeeper Lizzy Millen to bring in an extra attacker. Minutes after Temple pulled their goalie, Youtz struck again. The forward scored the equalizer with an unassisted goal to tie the game at 4-4.

With the game tied and only five minutes left in regulation, Youtz took the possession on the right sideline before sending a pass to Delp who tapped in the goal.

“We were very pleased with our team because it was a pretty crazy game,” Janney said. “To be down 3-1 was a tough spot for us to be in.”

Next weekend, the Owls will be headed south to take on Longwood in Farmville, Va. on Friday and Maryland on Sunday.

Delp said that winning today is a big boost in momentum for a game against Maryland.

“Winning today was pretty essential to keep our confidence going, coming into a game against Maryland this upcoming weekend and we wanted to make sure we won this weekend before going into that game,” Delp said.

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