After two losses last weekend for the field hockey team, its first win of the year, a 3-2 overtime victory against Rutgers on Sunday afternoon, couldn’t have come in better fashion.
A little more than a minute into overtime, sophomore midfielder Nicole Kroener scored her second goal of the game off of an assist by sophomore forward Amber Youtz to give Temple its first win of the season.
“I took the ball up the middle and dished it to [Youtz] on the baseline,” Kroener said. “Then she passed it back to me over the middle and I tapped it in.”
Coach Amanda Janney said that Kroener’s shot in overtime wasn’t a normal effort.
“[Kroener] made an amazing play in overtime, where she helped bring the ball up and pass it to [Youtz] on her right side and then make a nice cut to do a little give and go,” Janney said.
Rutgers went into halftime up one after Scarlet Knights’ senior midfielder Christie Lonsky scored an unassisted goal.
After a quiet first half offensively, the Owls stormed back in the second half to tie the game twice.
“Rutgers did a great job putting pressure on our backs and we had trouble passing the ball as much as we wanted to in the first half,” Janney said. “It wasn’t our best first half and it was good to see us score a goal early in the second half.”
Junior forward Lauren Hunt scored an unassisted goal one minute into the second half to tie the game. The Scarlet Knights responded 10 minutes later with a goal off of a penalty stroke.
The stroke was called when Rutgers’ senior forward Carlie Rouh broke away, going one on one with sophomore goalkeeper Lizzy Millen.
Millen came out of the goal to take on Rouh and got called for the penalty.
“Millen came out to make an aggressive play, and the referee awarded a penalty stroke,” Janney said. “Rutgers was just able to execute on the shot.”
Kroener’s two goals were her first two for the season.
Janney said that she likes to see Kroener get recognition because much of her contributions are on the defensive side.
But for Kroener, her focus was on the team and moving forward.
“It just felt good to put the goals away to keep our momentum going,” Kroener said. “It just feels good that we were able to not give up and build the momentum for next game.”
Up next for the Owls will be a game at Monmouth University on Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 4:30 p.m.
Colin Tansits can be reached at colin.tansits@temple.edu.
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