Lafayette field hockey’s 3-goal second half beats Temple

As the clock ran down to zero on Sunday at Howarth Field, Temple’s four seniors took in their last moments as Division I athletes.

Redshirt-senior forward Sarah Keer and senior midfielder and forward Maiyah Brown, forward Hattie Kuhns and senior midfielder Rachael Mueller played their last games in the Owls’ 4-1 loss to Lafayette College.

Temple (4-14, 0-7 Big East Conference) closes the regular season outside of the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

The Leopards outscored Temple, 3-1, in the second half. Sophomore forward Lucy Reed scored the Owls’ lone goal 30 seconds after Lafayette senior forward Rosie Shanks tucked a goal into the left side of the net to give her team a 2-0 lead with 30 minutes, 31 seconds left.

Reed scored her second-career goal off a rebound off a shot from freshman midfielder Dani Batze. Reed made an impact despite only playing 18 minutes.

“Lucy’s been doing a really good job in practice with being in the right spot at the right time and using the right skill at the right time,” Freeman said. “The fact that she was able to put that in is a testament to all the hard work she’s shown all season long.”

Lafayette had 12 penalty corners to the Owls’ four and scored off two of them. Freshman midfielder and defender Anna Steps netted the first off an assist from sophomore defender Lisa van der Geest in the 47th minute.

Junior midfielder Theresa Delahanty scored unassisted in the 65th minute to give the Leopards their fourth goal.

Lafayette outshot Temple 20-11 and forced junior goalkeeper Chloe Johnson to make nine saves. The game remained scoreless until Leopards freshman midfielder and forward Audrey Sawers knocked home a rebound on a breakaway at the 24:30-mark.

Then the Owls allowed three goals in the second half, when they were outscored by 19 this season.

“Today’s game was all about the intangibles, things that don’t require skill, that require team hockey,” Freeman said. “Intangibles are all about having a team mentality, shifting mentality, things that are more tactical than technical, and I think our team did a good job in that respect today.”