A 7-0 defeat to No. 8 Connecticut will wrap up No. 17 Temple’s regular season.
The Owls were shut out by their Big East Conference opponent in the last game of the season, making them 14-5 and 4-3 in the conference for 2013. The loss also snapped a win streak, which will end at four games.
Temple drew two penalty corners within the first three minutes of the game, but the Owls couldn’t convert on them. Senior midfielder/defender and co-captain Molly Doyle took a shot on the first corner, but it was blocked in front and sophomore forward Alyssa Delp took the shot on the second, but it was saved by UConn senior goalkeeper Sarah Mansfield.
The Huskies went on a run of five unanswered goals in the first half. Senior forward/midfielder Marie Elena Bolles scored on a penalty corner just over six minutes in. Then junior forward Chloe Hunnable redirected a shot by junior midfielder Chrissy Davidson into the back of the cage.
Bolles and Hunnable would strike again later in the half. Bolles scored again with a hot from the upper left of the circle under 19 minute into the half. Then Bolles completed a hat-trick with back-to-back goals just over three minutes apart.
Bolles wasn’t done yet, though. Four minutes into the second half, she scored her fourth of the day off a penalty corner to make it 6-0 UConn. Sophomore midfielder Mckenzie Townsend scored UConn’s final goal of the day in the 50th minute.
Much like the start of the game, Temple drew two more penalty corners in the closing minutes, but couldn’t find its way on to the board. With the regular season over, Temple will put its focus on the Big East Tournament, which will also be in Connecticut, next week.
The Owls will be the fourth seed in the tournament, with UConn, No. 5 Old Dominion and No. 14 Louisville seeded ahead of them.
All three teams seeded ahead of Temple finished 6-1 in conference play to claim a share of the Big East title. As a result, the Owls won’t know who their semifinal opponent will be until a tie-breaking procedure is done.
The Big East semi-final round will begin Friday at 5 p.m., followed by the championship on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Nick Tricome can be reached at nick.tricome@temple.edu or on Twitter @itssnick215.
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