Temple Women’s Soccer went into its game against Navy looking for its first win of the season at the Temple Sports Complex. The Owls had lost a heartbreaker to ECU just three days prior but showed signs of life in the conference opener.
Temple broke its nearly year-long scoreless streak on Sept. 5 against Le Moyne and hasn’t gone scoreless in a game since. Midfielder Yao Zhou extended the scoring streak to four games in the 30th minute when she beamed a shot to the back of the net.
Zhou’s strike was all the Owls needed to prevail. Navy was held at bay the rest of the way and goalkeeper Tamsin Bynoe racked five saves to spoil the comeback efforts.
Temple (2-7, 0-1 American Athletic Conference) beat Navy (6-5, 0-0 Patriot League) 1-0 Sunday afternoon. Temple won two games last season and has matched that total in nine games to begin the year.
“We’ve been playing better, we’ve been scoring goals and so there’s a bit more self-belief in the attacking third,” said Temple head coach Chris Shaw. “When you’re scoring goals you’re more likely to shoot the ball because you think you’ve got momentum and self-belief. So this is just the process and a progression from the beginning of the season to now.”
The game started slow with neither team being able to create separation between each other. Temple forward Sumaya Togba finally got the ball rolling with the game’s first shot on goal in the 19th minute, but Navy goalkeeper Natasha Stramrood made the save.
Navy had its first chance at a goal a minute later, but forward Chiara Cosenza’s shot only found the mits of Bynoe. Navy’s shot was the wake-up call the Owls’ attack needed and the unit kept the ball in Midshipmen territory until Zhou found the back of the net.
“I’m gaining a little bit of confidence going on in this season, but I definitely need to do that more,” Zhou said. “I guess everything worked out because we’re getting good touches and we’re definitely improving and understanding each other’s movements.”
The Midshipmen had a chance to tie the game with 14 seconds left in the first half with a shot by forward Isabelle Romano but she couldn’t find the target. Both squads ended the opening half with five shots but only one of Navy’s found the goal.
Both teams came out of the break with new-found aggression. The Midshipmen racked up eight fouls in the second half after only recording three in the opening 45 minutes.
Temple defender Phoebe Hollin had an opportunity to double the lead, but it was dashed by Stramrood. Stramrood faced 17 Temple shots but held her ground and recorded seven saves to keep her team within arm’s reach.
Navy looked to get on the scoreboard but Bynoe continued to protect the goal. Bynoe had six saves during the game with five coming in the second half. The sophomore maintained Temple’s lead in the 74th minute with two back to back saves.
The Owls were looking to deliver the knockout punch with just under eight minutes of play but Navy narrowly dodged. Midfielder Fiona Kilian had the opportunity but missed the target. Two minutes later Bynoe made another crucial save, pushing the Owls to their first home win.
“I’m like ‘I need a shut out, so anything that comes my way, I’m just gonna throw myself at it’ and that’s exactly what I did,” Bynoe said. “The double save, I was like give my everything to get back up to make the second save. Then it was Nat who cleared it away and I think that shows our team’s drive to get a win.”
The Owls will be back in action when they take on City 6 rival Penn (0-4-3, 0-0 Ivy League) on Sept. 22 at 2 p.m.
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