John Kumpf returned to the ice for the first time since his sophomore season and immediately made an impact.
Head injuries forced the senior defenseman to sit out last year. He scored two minutes, eight seconds into the second period to give Temple a two-goal lead against Navy.
Then Navy took over the period. The Midshipmen outshot the Owls by 26 in the period and scored four consecutive goals on the way to a 7-4 win at the McMullen Ice Center in Annapolis, Maryland. Navy outshot Temple (5-8-1, 0-3 Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association) 65-24 on Friday.
“We kind of took our foot off the gas,” senior defenseman and captain Ryan Dumbach said. “I think after we scored our third goal, we got a little relaxed, maybe a little too satisfied with how the game was going. I think we lost a little bit of focus.”
The Midshipmen scored 12:32 into the period to tie the game and added a goal 20 seconds later to take the lead. Connor Hyden scored the tying goal, and Derek Golembrosky scored the game-winner. John Linenger scored Navy’s fourth goal of the second period with 1:13 left before the second intermission.
Trailing 5-3 after two periods, the Owls made it a one-goal game with a short-handed goal by freshman Brendan Ondick 6:08 into the third. Ondick now has 11 goals, tying senior forward Joey Powell for the team lead. Three of his goals came when the team was shorthanded.
In addition to tying Powell for the team lead in goals, Ondick increased his lead to 25-21 over Powell in points. Temple allowed two third-period goals after Ondick’s tally.
The Owls have been outshot in 10 of their 14 games and hold a 2-7-1 record when they generate less scoring chances than their opponent. The team is now ranked fifth out of seven teams in the ECHA in goals-against average.
Navy forced sophomore goaltender Ben Auerbach to make 58 saves Friday.
“Ben’s a stud,” Dumbach said. “We know we can rely on him every game. I think sometimes we almost get too relaxed just knowing that he’s back there, and that may have factored into the second period. He played out of his mind. It’s a shame that it looks on the score that there’s so many goals.”
Sophomore forward Charles Ghiazza and freshman forward Luke Brzozowski each scored in the first period to give Temple a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. Ghiazza scored his third of the season, and Brzozowski netted his second.
The Owls will play on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Revolution Ice Gardens in Warminster, Pennsylvania.
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