Owls struggle offensively in loss against South Florida

Temple (2-6, 0-1 American Athletic Conference) fell to South Florida (7-2, 1-0 AAC) 15-9 Saturday afternoon at Corbett Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Temple has scored double-digit goals just once since attacker Amelia Wright suffered an injury against Saint Joseph’s on Feb. 19.

The Owls stayed close with the Bulls through the first quarter but fell apart in the second. Temple’s offense only managed a single goal and its defense fared even worse, allowing six in the 15-minute span. The Owls seemingly solved their problems on defense, only allowing one goal in the third quarter, but that quickly dissolved in the final quarter. 

The Bulls scored five goals in the fourth quarter with three of them coming in the final five-and-a-half minutes of the game. Temple goalkeeper Taylor Grollman recorded a career-high 19 saves but it wasn’t enough as the offense couldn’t produce the same output. 

KEY MOMENTS

• Temple midfielder Emily Liberio found the back of the net to start the scoring but USF attackers Sofia Chepenik and Juliana George responded with back-to-back goals to take a 2-1 lead. 
• The Owls took advantage of consecutive man-up opportunities as midfielders Lily Caravela and Sarah Gowman stole the lead back just two minutes later. 
• Bulls’ midfielder Bailey Morris tied the game at three in the late stages of the first quarter. Chepenik used the momentum to start the second quarter by scoring back-to-back goals to record a hat trick and extend USF’s lead to 5-3.
• Temple midfielder Kaitlyn Stankavage put an end to the Bulls’ run with a goal, but the Owls’ defense couldn’t keep up and allowed four more goals and they went into halftime down 9-4.
• Temple midfielder Sabrina Martin looked to mount a comeback to start the second half by scoring the first goal of the third quarter. However, Chepenik responded just 30 seconds later to keep Temple at bay.
• In the final four minutes of the third quarter, Temple attacker Laura Conner and midfielder Erin King each beat USF goalkeeper Paige Pagano to cut the deficit to three heading into the final quarter. 
• USF midfielders Claire Natoli and Jena Binkis stunted the Owls’ momentum with back-to-back goals to open the fourth quarter, pushing the Bulls’ lead to 12-7. King refused to let Temple go down without a fight as she scored her second goal of the game to keep it within striking distance.
• Chepenik and attacker Ava Uphues and midfielder Kaitlyn Tartaglione each added a goal to put the finishing touches on the game. King made one last effort to make the game 15-9 but it was too little too late for the Owls and their hopes to grab two consecutive wins was crushed.

THE NUMBERS

• USF was relentless on the offensive end, with 34 of its 48 shots reaching Grollman.
• Grollman finished the outing saving a career-high 19 of the Bulls’ shots. This breaks her previous career-high 18 saves which she set just two weeks ago in Temple’s 11-9 loss to UMBC on March 1.
• The Owls collected 19 ground balls but turned the ball over 26 times.
• Six Owls found themselves on the score sheet with King leading the way.
• King finished the afternoon with her third hat trick in the last four games and added an assist.
• Chepenik finished the outing with a career-high six goals and eight other Bulls got the best of Grollman. 

ON TAP

Temple will conclude its road trip when it faces Rutgers (5-3, 0-0 Big Ten Conference) on March 20, at 6 p.m. in New Brunswick, New Jersey.