After a 1-7 start, the team defeated Lafayette and St. Joseph’s last week.
The lacrosse team dodged some snow and won in its final non-conference game to earn its first Atlantic Ten Conference win en route to a 2-1 record last week.
The Owls finished their non-conference schedule with a 12-11 win against visiting Lafayette with a late, game-winning goal by junior midfielder Missy Schweitzer. The win improved their record to 2-7 before entering conference play.
The team held an 8-4 lead at halftime and opened the half with two goals to extend the lead to 10-4 with 21 minutes, 48 seconds remaining. Lafayette answered with a 6-0 run to tie the contest at 10 with just a little more than 10 minutes remaining. Lafayette freshman midfielder Ana White and sophomore midfielder Jessica Rothstein led the attack for the Leopards.
Schweitzer ended the Leopards’ run with a free position goal to give the Owls an 11-10 lead. However, Rothstein scored moments later to tie the game once again at 11 apiece.
Schweitzer scored the game-winner with 1:05 remaining in the contest to give the Owls their second win of the season. She finished the game with three goals and an assist. Junior midfielder Kelsey Zenuk also finished with a hat trick.
The Owls opened up A-10 conference play a day earlier than expected as the game against No. 20 Massachusetts was pushed up from Friday to Thursday in an attempt to avoid a scheduled snowstorm in the New England area.
Freshman attacker Katie Ferris scored five goals, including the first and final for the Minutemen, as the Owls dropped their opening A-10 game, 12-9.
Ferris scored almost one minute into the match to give the Minutemen the early lead. Schweitzer tied the contest two minutes later for the Owls, but Ferris responded 37 seconds later to retake the lead that UMass ultimately would hold the rest of the game.
UMass stretched its lead out as far as three with a 4-1 lead, but Temple was able to keep the game tight and trailed, 5-4, at the half.
Ferris opened the second half with another quick goal that began a 5-0 run in a span of five minutes to give UMass a commanding, 10-4 lead with 24 minutes remaining.
The Cherry and White would score five of the next seven goals, but it was too little, too late as the team fell to 2-8 overall and 0-1 in the A-10. Sophomore midfielder Stephany Parcell scored a hat trick for the Owls, while sophomore midfielder Charlotte Swavola added two goals and two assists.
The team rebounded in its second conference game, and Swavola continued her impressive week with a five-goal performance in a come-from-behind, 12-11 win against rival St. Joseph’s.
The two teams combined for seven lead changes in the first half and entered the half tied, 7-7.
The Hawks scored three goals in the opening five minutes of the second half to take a 10-7 lead. Swavola ended the Owls’ scoring drought minutes later on a free position shot, but the Hawks answered once again with a goal with just more than 20 minutes remaining.
Schweitzer scored her only goal of the contest to begin an Owls’ run that would ultimately tie the contest at 11 with 14 minutes left. Swavola scored on a free position shot with 11:02 remaining, and the Owls regained the lead, 12-11.
Swavola’s fifth goal was ultimately the game winner as neither team scored in the final 11 minutes, and the Owls prevailed with the 12-11 victory against their cross-town rival. The Owls defense held the Hawks scoreless in the final 20 minutes to earn the win. Junior midfielder Stephanie Markunas recorded a hat trick in the contest. Swavola finished the week with nine goals following the five-goal performance.
The Owls are currently 3-8 overall and 1-1 in the A-10. Next up are George Washington Colonials, which enters the game 4-8 (1-1). The match is scheduled for Friday, April 8, at 3 p.m. at Geasey Field.
Joe Serpico can be reached at gserpico@temple.edu.
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