The ice hockey club defeated Monmouth on Friday night at Northeast Skate Zone by a score of 6-3.
“It was a good effort all around,” coach Ryan Frain said. “We had 60 shots and six goals, so I can’t really ask for anything more than that and a ‘W’ is a ‘W.’”
Monmouth came into the game with a winless record, and it was clear from the first drop of the puck that Temple had the advantage. The Owls dominated the play and possession of the puck throughout the entire period.
Junior forward Stephen Kennedy opened the game’s scoring when he picked up the puck behind the net skated in front of the net and tucked it in to the far side of Monmouth goaltender Stephen Bonora with 11:53 left in the first period.
Temple was able to add another goal before the end of the period when junior forward Brady O’Donnell went in front of the net and tapped in a rebound that just barely trickled through Bonora to give the Owls a 2-0 lead with 1:58 left in the opening period.
The puck rarely came out of Monmouth’s defensive zone in the first and the Hawks only managed to get five shots on goal in the first period, while Temple had 26.
The play in the second period was the same as the first, with the Owls in control.
Kennedy then tallied another goal with 11:03 left in the second period after a behind-the-back backhanded pass from senior forward Joe Pisko right to Kennedy for the goal.
While on the power play, Temple’s defense lapsed and gave up a breakaway goal scored by Monmouth forward Kyle McKenna making it a 3-1 game.
The Owls quickly regained their three goal lead when junior forward Pat Golden passed it to Kennedy who passed it right back to Golden for a tic-tack-toe tap in goal right in front of the net with 5:52 left in the second.
Monmouth would fight back though and from the side of the net with very little angle, McKenna lifted a backhand shot past junior goalie Eric Semborski to make it a 4-2 game. But just 13 seconds later, freshman defenseman Jay Schwartz scored his first career goal for the Owls.
“It was good to get my first goal off of my back,” Schwartz said. “It felt good to help the team produce a little bit. It’s just good to get it off of my back and get my name on the score sheet.”
In the third period Kennedy would complete his hat trick, scoring his third of the night off of a backhand from the slot, again assisted by Pisko.
Monmouth would score a consolation goal with 1:39 left in the game but that would be it, the game ended 6-3 Temple. Temple outshot Monmouth by more than double with 60 for the Owls and 24 for the Hawks. Kennedy’s hat trick gives him 23 goals on the season in just 16 games, the next closest Owl is sophomore forward Greg Malinowski with six.
Temple is next in action on Saturday night at Rowan University at 8:15 p.m.
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