Temple has been struggling on both ends of the field all season but looked like it was going to put an end to the trend after the first quarter of its game against Rutgers on Thursday. The Owls held a one-goal lead entering the second quarter before reverting to form right after.
Temple found the back of the net twice in the quarter but its defense was practically nonexistent. The Scarlet Knights scored eight goals to turn their once one-goal deficit into a five-goal lead. Rutgers didn’t stop there and added six goals in the third quarter. The Owls’ poor defense translated to the offense and they could only manage one goal in each of the final two quarters.
Temple (2-7, 0-1 American Athletic Conference) was blown out by Rutgers (7-3, 1-0 Big Ten Conference) 19-7 Thursday afternoon at SHI Stadium. The Owls have now matched their loss total from last season.
KEY MOMENTS
- Temple midfielder Emily Liberio started the game off hot by scoring two goals in 15 seconds. Rutgers attacker Hilary Elsner and midfielder Michelle Warren each beat Owls’ goalkeeper Taylor Grollman to tie the game at two four minutes later.
- Temple attacker Jenna Facciolli converted on a free position shot with three minutes left in the first quarter to give the Owls a 3-2 lead.
- Elsner got her second goal of the contest by beating Grollman again just 41 seconds into the second quarter. Midfielder Ava Chiarella followed it up with a goal of her own 38 seconds later to give the Scarlet Knights their first lead of the evening.
- Rutgers continued the offensive barrage when Rutgers’ attackers Victoria Goldrick and Alexa Corbin netted goals 30 seconds apart to take a 6-3 lead.
- Owls’ midfielders Erin King and Lily Caravela snuck shots by Rutgers keeper Lexie Coldiron to cut the deficit to one. The surge ended there as Scarlet Knights’ midfielder Payton Tini pushed the lead back up to two with less than five minutes remaining in the first half.
- Rutgers completely erased Temple’s comeback hopes following Tini’s goal as Corbin and attacker Lily Dixon each added a goal two minutes later. Rutgers attacker Delainey Sutley joined the party and snuck a shot by Grollman to make the score 10-5 entering halftime.
- Elsner secured a hat trick as she beat Grollman before Sutley notched her second goal to push the lead to seven. Dixon joined Elsner in the hat trick club with back-to-back goals in quick succession to continue the blowout.
- Rutgers’ lead was pushed to 10 as Elsner scored yet again. However, King took advantage of the man-up opportunity in a last-ditch attempt for an insurmountable comeback.
- Tini erased King’s goals with one of her own, making the game 16-6 heading into the final quarter. Rutgers defender Caitlin Collins continued her team’s momentum by extending the lead to 11 with a goal.
- Grollman was pulled in the fourth quarter but Colleen Berardino had the same success as her counterpart as she was unable to stop attacker Samantha Swanovich from making the score 18-6.
- Owls’ midfielder Sabrina Martin got her shot by backup keeper Sophia Rowell.
- Rutgers attacker Francesca Urtis put the last nail in Temple’s coffin to make the final score 19-7.
THE NUMBERS
- The Scarlet Knights had their way on offense, finishing the game with 44 shots and a combined 30 found Grollman and Berardino.
- Temple’s offense continued the season-long struggle sending off shots. The Owls only shot 26 times, with just 15 being on goal.
- Five Owls found the score sheet, but only King and Liberio notched more than one goal.
- The Owls managed to pick up 14 ground balls but lost the turnover battle 15 to 10.
- There were 11 Scarlet Knights who found the back of the net with five having multiple goals.
ON TAP
Temple will return back home to Howarth Field to face Pittsburgh (5-4, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) on March 25 at 3 p.m.
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