A three-goal lead and a valiant effort was not enough for the lacrosse team as it fell 14-13 to No. 18 Princeton Wednesday, April 4.
Senior midfielder Stephanie Markunas led the charge for the Owls with two assists to go along with her three goals, which all came in the first half. A balanced attack yielded two goal games for senior midfielders Karly Cohen, Jackie Mercer and Missy Schweitzer. Senior attacker Keelin Hood also chipped in with a two goal game of her own.
“[Markunas] got us off to a great start,” coach Bonnie Rosen said. “She was quite the field general for us today, and offensively we shared the ball well and had key goals by a bunch of different girls.”
In a game that was back and forth all the way through, Temple (7-5) appeared to shift the momentum after a 4-0 run with 15 minutes and 55 seconds remaining made it a 12-9 game. Cohen started the rally when she netted her second of the game, and Schweitzer and Hood combined for the next three tallies.
When the scoreboard read 12-9, the volume from the fans at Temple’s Geasey field was at a maximum. The momentum appeared to be in Temple’s favor, and an upset seemed likely.
It was after that 4-0 that the game began to turn south for the lady Owls. Princeton (5-4) took advantage of multiple Temple turnovers and countered Temple’s run with a 5-0 run of their own to turn the contest in their favor, 14-12. A Temple comeback never materialized.
“The turnovers were the difference in the game,” Rosen said. “We played a nice game overall today and it’s a shame that we didn’t win because we had it.”
Although the ultimate result wasn’t the win Temple wanted, there were still some positives to take away from the loss.
“We played a lot better today,” Markunas said. “We played well together as a team and we didn’t hang our heads even when we were down. We tried all the way through but just didn’t get the outcome that we wanted.”
“One area that I thought we played really well today was defense,” Rosen added. “I was really proud of the collective effort on the defensive end and [senior goalkeeper Tess Bishop] made some big saves when we needed it.”
For Temple, the effort put forth in Wednesday’s game should only play into their favor come Saturday when the team faces La Salle at Geasey Field. The game will start at 1:00 p.m.
“If we can bring this level and build upon it, we should be well prepared to play La Salle,” Rosen said.
Drew Parent can be reached at andrew.parent@temple.edu.
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