Senior forward Bridget Settles strikes first, but the Owls lose in overtime.
As the Owls looked to extend their three-game winning streak against Atlantic Ten Conference opponent Massachusetts (7-9-0, 5-0 A-10), their efforts came up short in a 2-1 overtime loss on Sunday. Though senior forward Bridget Settles put the Owls ahead early with an unassisted goal nine minutes into the game, a shutout win on Senior Day was not to be.
After Settles’ goal, the Owls spent most of the first half on the attacking end of the field with 14 shots on goal. But that first half energy didn’t hold up for the second half of the game. From the beginning of the second half, the Minutewomen were on the attack and held the Owls to three second-half shots.
Despite the Owls appearing strong in the first half, Settles said that they got too comfortable in the second half.
“We came out really strong and put a lot of pressure on them,” Settles said. “But we just weren’t smart with the ball in the second half and didn’t put it away like we should’ve.”
The Owls’ defense was bending and finally broke in the 66th minute of the game when UMass sophomore forward Molly MacDonnell scored the equalizer.
Towards the end of the game, Temple tried to reenergize its offense. The Owls drove down the field and nearly scored on an airborne pass to freshman midfielder Nicole Kroener, but the offense couldn’t capitalize and regulation time ran out.
In overtime, the Owls continued struggling to muster up any offense. In the overtime period Temple had zero shots, compared to Massachusetts’ six.
With the Minutewomen continuously pressuring the Owls’ defense, Massachusetts’ senior midfielder Nikki Panciocco drew the final blow to the Owls with an unassisted goal that came off of a rebounded save by Temple’s sophomore goalkeeper Lizzy Millen.
With the A-10 conference playoffs coming up senior forward Caryn Lambright said that she sees this loss as fuel for the postseason.
“This game is going to be a really good motivator for us to not let this happen again,” Lambright said. “We’ll be able to use this to get back at them in the playoffs.”
Coach Amanda Janney added that this loss is another lesson for the team this season.
“We know now that we can play with every A-10 team,” Janney said. “[Massachusetts] has been a tough team in the past and I think even though we lost we came out and played pretty strong.”
The Owls are looking to enter the A-10 playoffs with two wins in their final two games. Next Friday, the Owls will be facing off against Liberty (5-8) for the Play for the Cure game and the Owls’ home finale at Geasey Field.
Colin Tansits can be reached at
colin.tansits@temple.edu.
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