Senior midfielder Alyssa Delp lived up to her all-Big East Conference Preseason Team selection when her team needed it the most.
Led by Delp’s three goals, the first hat trick in her college career, the Owls defeated Monmouth University 4-2 Friday at Geasey Field, snapping their two-game losing streak.
“She was a force, there’s no question,” coach Marybeth Freeman said. “She has been consistent all year, and I think her teammates put her in a position to be successful today. When there was the need to get it done on attack, she was the point person.”
Delp put the Owls on the board first with a goal from the top of the circle 11 minutes into the game. Monmouth responded with two goals in six minutes from Cori Allen to take a 2-1 lead.
With seven minutes left before halftime, Delp tallied her second goal of the game to tie the score 2-2.
The Owls opened the second half with Delp’s third goal of the game off of a corner opportunity, giving the team a 3-2 lead. Temple took advantage of Monmouth’s defense, producing nine penalty corner opportunities compared to three for the Blue Hawks.
“I think our forwards are doing a really good job in terms of keeping it tight and knowing that if they don’t have a clear shot or path to look for those corners,” Delp said. “They do a really good job of executing them, and I think they were spot-on with that today.”
With 12:45 left in regulation, Temple extended its lead to two goals on a penalty corner score from senior midfielder Sarah Deck.
Freeman was pleased with how her team team responded after trailing 2-1in the first half.
“I told them there’s a lot of game left, and to control the controllable,” Freeman said. “I told them to focus on two very specific things: individual defense and possession passes. I thought they did a great job with that, especially being able to tie it up and to come out at halftime ready to go.”
Temple will be back in action at Geasey Field Sunday when it hosts Northwestern University, the No. 12 team in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association coaches poll, at noon.
“[Today’s game] was important,” senior backer Taylor Shronk said. “We came off a few tough losses in the last couple games, and it was really important to step it up, being away and traveling against a team like Monmouth, which is a very talented team that has given us trouble in the past. It was great that we were really able to focus in today, get a win, and [hopefully] carry it on through the rest of the season.”
Matt Cockayne can be reached via email at matt.cockayne@temple.edu and via twitter at mattcockayne55.
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