From 2017-19, Temple Field Hockey endured one of its worst stretches in program history. The Owls had a losing record and missed the postseason in all three seasons, the first time they missed the tournament since 2002. Its two wins in 2018 were also the fewest for the program since 1966.
As the calendar flipped to the 2020s, the program began to return to form. Former Olympian Michelle Vittese was hired in 2021 and it felt like the Owls were finally on the right track.
Temple appeared to break through in 2022 when they finished with 13 wins — the most in a season since 2014. They entered the Big East tournament with high aspirations of achieving their first NCAA tournament berth since 1994.
The Owls ultimately lost to Old Dominion in a penalty shootout. Temple has been stuck in the conference semifinal round since that loss, unable to get over the hump and make it to the finals. Beating ranked opponents has been the team’s Achilles heel for years, but they’ve knocked off two nationally ranked teams in overtime in the two weeks, providing reason for optimism that this year could be different.
Temple sits at a 5-4 record so far this year and has a chance to crack the NCAA Top 20 rankings if their success continues. 2022 set the stage for Temple to become a top program, so what has to happen in order for the team to finally get over the conference semifinal hump they’ve failed to hurdle in recent years?
STRUGGLES TO EXECUTE ON OFFENSE
The Owls’ offense was crucial to their success in 2022. They averaged 2.5 goals per game and scored a total of 48 goals. That offense was expected to elevate its production when 2023 rolled around. Three of the four top goal-scorers were returning, indicating improvement was on the horizon including all-conference midfielder Tess Muller.
Instead, the offense took a step back and constantly hindered the team.
The Owls scored 23 total goals in the 2023 season, averaging less than two goals per game and only scored more than two goals in a game twice. While Temple struggled to find the back of the net, they were not struggling to create scoring chances, averaging 10 shots per game and 118 total penalty corners.
Temple’s 2023 struggles have come back to haunt them this season. The Owls opened the season scorching hot, with 13 goals in the first two games. They’ve already taken 142 shots this season and are averaging seven penalty corners per game. The problem is the offense reverted back to its inconsistent 2023 form.
“It’s like foul shooting, literally the most technical thing,” Vittese said. “It’s half mental just being able to do the same thing over and over again. We can’t always create that stimulus so for [the players] they have to be able to create that too. Attack penalty corner has been the massive area for us to be able to convert and this has been the story of Temple Field Hockey for the last three years.”
A four-game losing streak immediately followed after Temple’s hot start this year, and the team only managed to score three goals in that span. In two of those games, Temple created more scoring opportunities than the opposition but still lost both games
Temple’s offense seemingly woke back up in its 4-0 win against La Salle on Sept. 22. While the offense did not play a major factor in taking down nationally-ranked Old Dominion and Monmouth last week, it showcased enough talent to get the wins. Consistency has been the main issue for the Owls’ offense — something they will have to fix if they want to sustain success.
“In the four-game losing streak, realistically only two of the teams statistically beat us,” Vittese said following Temple’s 4-0 win against La Salle on Sept. 22. “Penn and Richmond did not and I think we are just going through that growing phase.”
CAN’T TAKE DOWN TOP TEAMS
Temple plays in one of the premier field hockey conferences, which features perennial powerhouses Liberty and Old Dominion. The Owls have to be able to beat the best to be considered the best — something they haven’t proved they can do until the last two weeks.
Temple’s kryptonite the last three seasons has been any team with a national ranking in front of its name. In 2022, the Owls went 1-4 against ranked teams with the one win coming against UConn on Oct. 28, their last win against a ranked opponent before their win against Old Dominion last week.
The Owls had four opportunities to take down a ranked opponent in 2023 and even cracked the top 20 themselves. They still could not get it done, and Temple went 0-4 while getting outscored 13-1 against ranked teams.
However, Temple has provided room for optimism this season, and it’s possible they’ve turned the page on their struggles.
The Owls’ wins against No. 18 Old Dominion and No. 20 Monmouth in back-to-back games marked the first time they’ve beaten two ranked opponents in the same season since 2014. The defeat of Old Dominion ended a 10-game losing streak against the Monarchs that dated back to 2016.
Old Dominion and Liberty have handled Temple for the last few years, so turning the tide against at least one of those rivals will go a long way to reaching the next level. Temple was 0-4 against the Monarchs since 2022 before their win and was eliminated by them the last two years in the conference semifinals.
Two years after Vitesse led the program’s breakthrough, the Owls still haven’t gotten past the conference semifinals. The team believes they have a better team than the last two years, and if they keep replicating their recent success, Temple could reach levels they haven’t achieved before.
“We just have to believe in ourselves,” Muller said. “Sometimes I feel like the pressure is really high and we just need to make sure we continue to have fun. We get in our heads sometimes and we obviously want to be back at that level that we were once at and I think this team is even more capable of doing that.”
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