One.
That was the total number of shots on goal that Sacred Heart had on Sunday afternoon.
The No. 17 ranked Temple Owls were firing on all cylinders defensively, which led to a 3-0 shutout of the Pioneers.
“We really focused on stepping up and trying to get big intercepts in the midfield,” senior midfielder/defender and co-captain Molly Doyle said. “The way our press is set up we kind of suckered them into passing to the outside back and then try to intercept them in the midfield.”
“We worked together and stepped up instead of letting them receive [the ball] first, which played a huge part,” Doyle added. “They didn’t really get behind our [25 yard line] a lot.”
It showed on the scoreboard. Sacred Heart never got a chance to establish an attack, failing to put a shot on goal until there was 3:47 left in the game.
For redshirt junior goalkeeper and co-captain Lizzy Millen, it was a change of pace and a chance to watch the team in front of her play.
“It was really fun to watch the team,” Millen said. “They played really well, they had a great passing game today and it just shows how well we improved with that.”
Millen, however, would have had to face a shot eventually, but she knocked the ball away with her glove when she finally did.
“I really didn’t see it coming,” Millen said. “She chip-shotted it right at my face so luckily I got something on it besides my face.”
Scoring opened up on a Temple penalty corner. Seven and a half minutes into the game, freshman forward Katie Foran redirected a shot from Doyle up and over Sacred Heart’s sophomore goalkeeper Mary Altepeter. It was Foran’s third goal of the weekend and her fourth of the year.
Just over a minute later, senior forward Lauren Hunt would make it a 2-0 game. Foran carried the ball in towards the cage and sent a pass across to Hunt, who was standing to the left of Altepeter. After mishandling the pass, Hunt was able to recover and put the ball in to extend Temple’s lead.
Then, in the second half, Hunt struck again. All in one motion, Hunt slid towards the goal to pick up a rebound and put it in the back of the cage, giving the Owls a 3-0 advantage.
Although the goals topped out at three, Temple never seemed to let up on the offensive pressure. The Owls had a string of six consecutive penalty corners in the second half, but weren’t able to convert on any of them.
“We had a ton of shots,” Hunt said. “The score didn’t entirely reflect that, but we’ll have to finish them for next time.”
Now 8-2 this season, the Owls will travel to Kentucky for a Friday night game against Louisville, who is currently ranked a spot ahead of Temple at No. 16.
Nick Tricome can be reached at tue55707@temple.edu or on Twitter @itssnick215.
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