There are many positives head coach Amanda Janney can take away from Saturday’s Conference Cup Tournament win over Ohio State, and the performance of her new freshmen players just might be at the top of that list.
Janney saw strong debuts by forward Katie Foran, defender/midfielder Michelle Walsh and midfielder Paige Gross, who all received significant playing time in the Owls opening game.
Foran started the game at forward, netting an important goal to put Temple ahead 2-1 early in the second half. Her goal came off a pinpoint assist right across the goal by senior captain Amber Youtz.
“[Scoring that first goal] was awesome,” Foran said. “It was a close game still, once I scored I was so excited.”
Walsh and Gross both had solid games in the midfield. Walsh played a large portion of the second half, and played quite well once she got her feet wet.
“I was a little nervous going in there but I have a really supportive team behind me and they all make me feel really comfortable on the field,” Walsh said. “I was ready to go in there and give it everything I had.”
After the game, Janney expressed happiness with the way the freshmen played.
“The freshmen played great actually. We’re so happy that Katie Foran got a goal to get us the lead,” Janney said. “Also Michelle Walsh stepped in there. She’s a strong player who can play a lot of positions.”
Janney also talked about the bright outlook of the team, especially concerning this freshman class.
“We have one of the strongest classes we’ve ever had and they’re able to give a lot of different contributions to the team,” Janney said. “We have some players on the bench right now that didn’t get a lot of time but are going to be stars for us later in the season.”
This win was a strong debut not just only for the field hockey team in general, but also for this particularly impressive Class of 2017.
Jared Phillips can be reached at tue98171@temple.edu.
Be the first to comment