With Temple locked into the Big East Tournament, the Owls entered their senior day against Lehigh on Sunday hoping to continue building momentum. Neither team could separate themselves after nearly two-quarters of play despite Temple’s numerous chances to break the dam.
The breakthrough finally happened with 30 seconds left in the first half after Temple earned a penalty corner. Midfielder Devin Kinzel deflected a pass from midfielder Mathéa Lassalle past Lehigh goalkeeper Jenny Canoni to give the Owls a one-goal lead before the half finished
Back Alizé Maes tacked on another Temple goal with eight minutes left in the game to put a stranglehold on the game. Temple’s defense allowed just a single Mountain Hawks shot and held them off the scoreboard to come away with the senior day win.
Temple (11-7, 5-2 Big East Conference) defeated Lehigh (7-10, 2-4 Patriot League) 2-0 Sunday afternoon at Howarth Field. The Owls will enter the Big East tournament on a two-game win streak, hoping to finally get past the semifinal round for the first time since 2015.
“I think the priority was effort, playing well and playing together,” said Temple head coach Michelle Vittese. “There was a lot of emotions for senior day but the biggest opportunity today was just to go out and perform with sights on next week and put together a performance we are proud of.”
The Owls came out in the first quarter immediately hunting for offensive chances. They earned a penalty corner just two minutes in but Maes’ shot went wide right. Four minutes later midfielder Catherine Arentz had a golden chance to give Temple the lead. Arentz dribbled down the left baseline and got Canoni out of position. Lehigh midfielder Zoe Day saved the day after she got herself in front of Arentz to make the save.
Temple’s defense has been the backbone of the team all season and they continued their strong play. The Owls were suffocating on the Lehigh attack, not allowing them to get off any shots on Temple goalkeeper Ashley Cogger. Cogger wasn’t tasked with having to make a save in her first career start.
Our defense is very solid and very strong,” said midfielder Myrthe Schuilenburg. “They always keep us in the game. It’s all with our goalkeepers. I think it’s also us as forwards and midfielders and corners making sure we’re doing our job of finishing on the other end so we can keep the momentum going.”
Temple turned up the offensive pressure hoping to break the deadlock in the second quarter. Temple fired off seven shots, including four in the first five minutes of the period. Kinzel finally got Temple on the board with 30 seconds left in the half after a deflection off a penalty corner.
Lehigh came out on the attack as the third quarter started searching for the equalizer. The Mountain Hawks earned back-to-back penalty corners to open the quarter. Both chances ended the same with the Owls’ defense spoiling both opportunities.
At the end of the third quarter, Temple was searching for an insurance goal for the final 15 minutes. Lassalle had two shots in the final three minutes of the third quarter, but the Lehigh defense stopped both shots to stay in the game.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Owls did find the insurance goal they were looking for. Maes scored both goals against Quinnipiac on Nov. 1 and she found the back of the net again off a penalty corner.
The Owls offense once again spent most of the day creating offensive opportunities. Temple finished the match with 17 shots and six penalty corners. The defense held the Mountain Hawks offense in check, limiting them to just one shot which was not a threat to Cogger.
“We’re getting in their circle, and it’s just for us it’s a matter of finishing and being able to know where we are in the circle and connect,” said midfielder Tess Muller. “That’s our just our last finish point, but I think we’re definitely getting there. It feels way better than it did a few weeks ago.”
The Owls will head to Providence, Rhode Island for the Big East tournament later this week as the two seed. They will take on Old Dominion (11-6, 5-2 Big East) on Nov. 8 at 4 p.m.
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