Rain, Owls fall at Penn

The Owls fell to city rival Penn 2-0 at Rhodes Field at the University of Pennsylvania on Sunday, Sept. 2.

The Temple loss was headlined by two goals scored in the second half by Penn, as the Owls’ first half lockdown defense disappeared in the second half of the match.

With Penn’s men’s soccer team going into a double overtime match with New Hampshire, the rain filled match began forty four minutes later than expected.

The first half panned out well for the Owls in that they didn’t allow any goals, although they were outshot by Penn 7-1.

The second half of the match proved different for Temple, as they were outshot 12-2, and gave up two goals in the half.

In the 54th minute, Penn junior Brianna Rano notched the first goal of the match past redshirt-senior goalkeeper Tara Murphy.

Penn scored its second goal in the 76th minute, as junior Claire Walker headed in a cross kick assisted by junior Kerry Scalora past Murphy.

“Mistakes happen and you will get punished against a team like that,” coach Matt Gwilliam said.

After the second goal of the match for Penn, coach Gwilliam decided that he had seen enough and substituted in freshman goalkeeper Shauni Kerkoff to replace Murphy.

“[Murphy] wasn’t playing well,” Gwilliam said, and added that he was hoping to get some experience for the young goalkeeper.

Murphy left the match in the 79th minute, allowing two goals on 16 shots and recording eight saves.

In her first collegiate playing experience, Kerkoff played the final 11 minutes of the match, facing three shots and recording one save.

“It was awesome,” Kerkoff said. “I was a little worked up at times so my voice cracked because I was extremely nervous. I really could not have asked for more.”

In addition to the loss in the match, the Owls lost freshman forward Sarah Scheidell to a leg injury in the 66th minute. Scheidell was able to walk off on her own after laying on the ground for a few moments.

Gwilliam said Scheidell is “fine” when asked about her condition.

Scheidell joins senior midfielder Jourdan Brill as the latest Owl to get injured, as Brill was removed from Friday’s win against the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

There is no timetable on Brill’s return either.

The Owls now fall to 1-3-1 on the season with the loss, while the Quakers improved to 2-0-0.

Temple’s next game will be at home at the Ambler Sports Complex on Friday, Sept. 7 at 4 p.m. against Iona.

John Murrow can be reached at john.murrow@temple.edu