The #14 Temple Owls field hockey team beat the Longwood Lancers 3-2 in double overtime Sunday at Geasey Field. The Owls dominated play but they could not capitalize on their numerous opportunities, and it almost cost them.
The story of the game for Temple was its inability to finish and put Longwood away. The Owls outshot the Lancers by seven and had eight more penalty corners but the Owls could not make a play and end the game before overtime.
“That’s the game of hockey” coach Amanda Janney said. “Sometimes you can have tons of shots and it doesn’t go your way. We’ve been fortunate on the other side of the ball that we don’t get a lot of shots and today we really had to earn it.”
In the first half the Owls had 10 shots, compared to Longwood’s four, yet Temple was down at the half 2-1. It tied the game on a penalty stroke goal by junior midfielder Nicole Kroener. Momentum swung to the Owls’ side but they could not take advantage. The Owls continued to attack and press forward but could not manage another goal even though they outshot Longwood by 11.
“We have to keep possession better,” Janney said. “I think we were doing some good aggressive plays but we were forcing things when we didn’t need to.”
Longwood came out and played a physical game, which cause some trouble for the Owls. It pressured the ball and out-hustled Temple but their offense couldn’t generate enough chances against the Owls solid defense.
“I personally did get a little flustered towards the end of the first half but my team really gathered around me and made me feel a lot more comfortable going into the second half,” sophomore forward/midfielder Alyssa Delp said.
“They got knocked around a little bit and it’s hard to play like that when you are getting pushed off the ball,” Janney said. “But they are a good, aggressive team. We were physical too and if you are not ready for it then you are going to learn the hard way.”
The Owls thought they had won the game on a Delp goal in the first overtime session but it was waved off because of a Longwood foul. Delp would later get her second goal off a rebound to win the game.
“They could have let one go that we though we scored on but we’d rather earn one and the goal we scored in overtime was awesome so we are glad it worked out the way it did,” Janney said.
Temple played Longwood last year and won 4-2 after being down 2-0 at halftime.
“We knew coming in that it wasn’t going to be an easy game and we were going to have to come out and top their intensity,” Kroener said.
“We came out confident as if we should win the game but we still knew they were going to be tough opponents so we definitely came out knowing we were in for a good game,” Delp said.
Michael Guise can be reached at Michaelguise@temple.edu or on Twitter @MikeG2511.
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