In the first 30 minutes of Temple’s game against Rice Thursday night, the team kept pace with the current American Athletic Conference leaders. They held Rice off the scoreboard up until that point, showing a competitive fire they needed to pull out a win.
Rice finally broke through in the 32nd minute when midfielder Catarina Albuquerque slid a shot past Temple goalkeeper Tamsin Bynoe. The Owls had the entire second half to respond and try to escape Texas with a tie.
Instead, Rice began to pour it on Temple and put a stranglehold on the game. Temple was never able to bring a threat toward Rice as they extended their lead while stifling Temple’s offense on their way to a four-point win.
Temple (2-11, 0-4 AAC) was outclassed by Rice (10-2-1, 4-1 AAC) 4-0 Thursday night. Temple allowed 34 shots on the night, the seventh time it has allowed north of 20 shots in a game this season.
Rice forward Natalie Gorji looked to get the better of Bynoe when she had a one-on-one with the Temple keeper in the sixth minute. Bynoe stayed composed and made the save to keep the game even at zero. Gorji’s shot started the flood of attempts Bynoe had sent her way.
Bynoe was forced to work again as she faced a shot from distance from midfielder Leah Chancey in the 11th minute of the match. She then faced a barrage of shots from forwards Allie Love and Jules Johnston which she stopped easily. Gorji also offered another shot, but Bynoe was able to make the stop once again.
The onslaught from Rice finally became too much for Bynoe to overcome as Albuquerque put home the opening goal, after catching Bynoe out of position. Bynoe recovered from the goal and hauled in four more shots before the half came to a close to bring her total to nine heading into the locker room.
Temple’s offense was once again non-existent throughout the first half. Its lone shot on goal came from Bynoe herself, which was corralled by Rice keeper Faith Hutchins. Temple had another chance to score in the late stages of the first half but Rice defended it easily and they headed into the locker room up one.
It only took two minutes into the second half for Rice to resume its avalanche of shots on Bynoe. Rice found the back of the net in the 47th minute but they were called offside, giving Temple a brief sigh of relief.
Rice found its second goal of the day shortly afterward when Rice defender Kat Lazor sent a long ball to Chancey who was able to make a run behind the Temple defenders. Chancey proceeded to beat Bynoe to set a Rice school record with 8 goals in 8 games.
Temple was unable to get a secure offensive opportunity until the 55th minute of the game. Five Temple jerseys flooded the Rice box, but Hutchins and company were able to keep Temple scoreless.
Rice midfielder Kallie McKinney sent a screamer from just outside the box that Bynoe had no chance of stopping, putting Rice ahead 3-0 in the 67th minute. Rice forward Jessica Molina put the finishing touches on the Rice victory, beating Bynoe to extend the lead to four in the 77th minute. Rice continued to apply pressure by pressing Temple and forcing Bynoe to work until the final whistle.
Rice finished 34 shots and Bynoe knocked away 14 of its attempts. Temple only managed to send nine shots off, with four being on target.
Temple will have a week to recover until they return to North Philadelphia where they will host No. 15 Memphis (7-1-1, 2-0-1 AAC) on Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.
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