FIELD HOCKEY

In a well-fought match at Geasey Field on Sunday, the Temple field hockey team lost to James Madison 5-1. The Dukes came into Sunday’s game as the 12th-ranked program in the nation.

Even though the Owls were shut out and surrendered three goals in the first half alone, Temple head coach Lauren Fuchs felt that her squad played well.

“We’ve been playing really well defensively lately,” Fuchs said. “We just need to be more aggressive and score more goals.”

In the first half, James Madison’s Traci Forchetti started off the scoring with a goal 8:48 into the game. Three minutes later, the Dukes’ Janelle Perlis scored on Temple’s goaltender, Serene McGrath. James Madison finished off its first-half scoring with an unassisted goal by Liz Sanders.

Fuchs went with backup goaltender April Herman at the end of the first half and continued to play her in the second half. Herman, a senior along with McGrath, came into the game and made 6 saves while only allowing 2 goals in the second period.

James Madison’s Sanders added two more goals in the second half to up her scoring to three in the match. Temple’s lone goal came from Jessica Jaworski with 15 minutes to go in the contest. Virginia Gonzalez was credited with the assist.

Although the scoreboard may have indicated a blowout, that’s not exactly how it was. Temple played very well on defense against a team that is one of the best scoring squads in the nation. The Temple goaltending tandem of Herman and McGrath combined for 10 saves on the Dukes’ high-powered offense.

Two days earlier at LaSalle, the Owls defeated the Explorers 4-1. Temple’s defense was spectacular giving up only one goal on just 9 shots.

Temple’s four goals were scored by Melissa DeCesaris, Kacy Ziomek, and Bridget Moyer. Moyer had a particularly good day, netting two goals against LaSalle’s defense.

McGrath and Herman combined for five and three saves, respectively, as the Explorer offense had a very difficult time staying in the Temple zone.

To top off the week for the Temple squad, the Owls’ Haley Dervinis was named Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Player of the Week for her performance against Georgetown last weekend.

Temple traveled to take on Penn State on Wednesday. This weekend, the Owls welcome another non-conference opponent, Southwest Missouri State, to Geasey Field at 12 noon.