After the club’s 7-3 loss Thursday to Villanova at Hatfield Ice Arena, frustration is mounting for both the players and the coaches.
“They executed their system,” coach Roman Bussetti said. “They got the puck in deep, they got on us and broke us down. We lost pretty much every battle and every race. We were flat.”
A pivotal moment in the game came when the Owls failed to score while on a seven-minute power play after Wildcats’ right wing Matthew Brizzi got called on three-consecutive penalties.
“I think they had more shots than us on our own power play,” sophomore defenseman Ryan Dumbach said. “It’s not acceptable, and we really have to bear down and work together as a team.”
Temple, who beat beat Villanova 2-1 Sept. 21, fell behind early after the Wildcats scored two quick goals before grabbing a 3-1 lead after the first period.
Villanova added another goal in the second period, but the Owls responded with a power-play goal from senior forward Stephen Kennedy.
The Wildcats answered Kennedy’s score with a goal and then scored again in the third period to put the game out of reach.
“We were out of sync,” Bussetti said. “It looked like we were in quicksand. Things don’t go our way, and the calls don’t go our way and we get frustrated. Every game 90 percent of that happens. Even when things go the other team’s way we can’t use that as an excuse, we have to be able to play through that. Even when stuff isn’t going our way, we have to try and work to get it to go our way.”
Stephen Godwin Jr. can be reached at stephen.godwin@temple.edu or on Twitter @StephenGodwinJr
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