Members of the women’s soccer team said they are anxious to start playing their Atlantic Ten Conference games. To the Owls, their game against A-10 rival Charlotte on Friday represents the beginning of a new season.
The Owls closed their non-conference schedule Sunday with a 2-1 road loss to Monmouth at The Great Lawn. The loss dropped the Owls to 3-6-0.Coach David Jones said he enjoys having the opportunity for his team to virtually start over.
“There are two parts to this season,” he said. “We were hoping to be closer to .500 [in this first part of the season]. The last four games have been better and we’ve been improving with each game.
“The Owls tried to comeback in Sunday’s game against the Hawks after distancing themselves early in the first half.Ten minutes into play, the Hawks were able to score a rebound goal that bounced off of senior goalkeeper Liz Tarasevich. Minutes later, Monmouth added a second goal to take a 2-0 lead.
The Hawks held the Owls scoreless in the first half. The Owls were only able to register three shots on goal in the second half, but in the 51st minute, sophomore forward Charisma Wright booted one into the net off a pass from freshman midfielder Dana Kerem.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Owls had one more opportunity to even out the score. Junior defender Kersha Walker received a pass from Wright. Walker took a shot on an empty net, but the ball went wide of the goal.
Temple did not manufacture any more shots on goal for the remainder of the game.
Tarasevich made 10 saves, six of which came in the second half.Sophomore sweeper Cori Gallagher said she saw much improvement from her team in the second half.
“We started off sluggish,” Gallagher said. “In the second half, we finally came together and picked up the pace. At that point, we made it a game.”
The Owls were outshot, 23-3, in the match. The Hawks received 10 corner kicks; the Owls had none. Despite these statistics, Gallagher said the team’s loss isn’t a result of its inability to produce shots on goal.”
The offense will come when everyone is doing their job,” she said. “It starts with defense and we need organization.
We all work hard. We just need to get on the same page.”
The Owls now face a competitive nine-game, A-10 schedule with four games at Ambler
Sports Complex. The Owls will hit the road this weekend to take on Charlotte and Richmond. Charlotte advanced to the semifinal to take on Charlotte and Richmond.
Charlotte advanced to the semifinal
round in the A-10 Championship tournament
last season.
This season, Charlotte and Richmond
were picked to finish third and fourth, respectively, by the conference’s head coaches.
Temple is slated to finish 13th out of 14
teams.
Despite this, Jones said he is optimistic
about this portion of the season.
“I think if we win five of the nine we
will make the tournament,” he said.
“There are three or four that could go
either way,” Jones continued.
“Our two big challenges are Charlotte
and Richmond. This is a big weekend ahead
and if we can get one win, it will do us wonders.”
Melissa DiPento can be reached at
mdipento@temple.edu.
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