With the score tied at five more than midway through the second half of Saturday’s game, Temple coach Bonnie Rosen called a timeout to give her team a break.
The Owls held the University of Maryland Baltimore County scoreless for the final 23 minutes, 46 seconds and scored eight straight goals to earn a 12-5 win at Howarth Field.
“We’d been doing a really nice job, but we looked tired,” Rosen said. “The point of the timeout was to take a breather. We just reminded them about the offense we were running and to defend hard and to cause turnovers that way.”
After falling behind early in five of its previous six games, Temple (6-1) got on the board first with 19:31 left in the first half on a goal by junior attacker Nicole Barretta.
The Retrievers tied the game with 15:48 left in the half. The back and forth play was a common theme in the first half. Each team took five shots on goal and each goalie made three saves. Eight turnovers by the Retrievers and 10 by Temple limited offensive opportunities.
Neither team scored in the next eight minutes after UMBC senior attacker Sam Nolan’s goal. Senior attacker Morgan Glassford, who scored two goals, broke the tie with 7:14 left in the half to put the Owls up 2-1. The Retrievers scored with 1:37 left to tie the score 2-2 going into halftime.
The Owls got the first draw of the second half and scored quickly, as Glassford gave them the lead with 28:29 left in the game. Temple won three of the five draws in the first half and 11 of the 19 in the game. Glassford and Retrievers’ sophomore midfielder Brittany Levine each finished with four draws.
“Going into the second half we figured out the draw and we were coming up with the draw,” Glassford said. “We got a lot of possessions on attack and that was our big momentum changer.”
The Retrievers cut Temple’s lead again with 27:04 left to play on a goal from freshman attacker Sara Moeller, who was one of five Retrievers who scored. Temple’s defense didn’t allow any multi-goal scorers, which included limiting Nolan to one goal. She had 20 goals coming into the game.
Moeller’s goal was UMBC’s first of three in a span of 3:18 before the Retrievers’ scoreless drought.
“The first half was very back and forth,” graduate attacker Brenda McDermott said. “After halftime, we were able to settle in and diagnose the defense. Once we were able to settle in and find the open space we were able to exploit their defense.”
Seven Owls scored on Saturday including McDermott, who scored twice. Senior attacker Carly Demato led all scorers with three goals and senior attacker Brooke Williams led all players with four assists. Williams’ goal, assisted by sophomore midfielder Amber Lambeth, with 20:36 left in the second half started Temple’s 8-0 run.
Senior midfielder Krissy Gallivan scored next to put Temple up 6-5 with 14:05 to play. Gallivan scored her second goal nearly eight minutes later to put Temple up by five. Demato scored back-to-back goals to put the Owls up 8-5 with 11:31 to play. She scored her third goal with 2:14 left to give the Temple its 12-5 lead.
“Having a team where you can have six or seven people score in a game is kind of unusual,” McDermott said. “A lot of teams can’t do that and it’s definitely one of our strengths this season.”
With 3:12 left, freshman goalkeeper Maryn Lowell dove to keep Temple’s run alive. She finished with five saves and gave up a season-low five goals in the win.
Temple will have a week off before its last non-conference game against Bucknell University at Howarth Field on March 11.
“This win means a lot,” senior defender Rachel Barile said. “We are sitting at 6-1 and going into a week of practice to prepare for Bucknell, so that’s an awesome place to be at for us.”
Tessa Sayers can be reached at teresa.sayers@temple.edu or on Twitter @SayersTessa. Follow The Temple News @TheTempleNews and @TTN_Sports.
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