Temple looked to snap its five game losing streak heading into its game against James Madison on Saturday. Despite the skid, the Owls’ offense had shaken off rust and scored double-digit goals in three consecutive games with a chance to continue the trend against the nationally-ranked Dukes.
It took all of 28 seconds for those hopes to be thrown out of the window.
James Madison attacker Maddie Epke got the scoring started for the Dukes, ripping a shot past Temple goalkeeper Taylor Grollman. The Owls allowed seven more goals before they were able to find the back of the net themselves. James Madison quickly responded with its ninth goal of the quarter to keep the scoring going.
Temple was never able to recover from the first quarter avalanche, as James Madison kept its foot on the gas pedal. The Owls’ defense couldn’t contain the Dukes’ offense and their losing streak was extended to six games.
Temple (2-11, 0-4 American Athletic Conference) fell to No. 11 JMU (9-4, 4-0 AAC) 18-4 Saturday afternoon at Howarth Field. The Owls recorded 12 shots all game, tying their lowest mark of the season which came in their game against Penn on Feb. 26.
“We had a good week of practice prepping for this game,” said head coach Bonnie Rosen. “It’s been a group that comes back week after week under all of these challenges.”
Epke beat Grollman for an early 1-0 lead 28 seconds into the game, the first of nine in the opening frame. Midfielder Maggie Clark followed suit a minute later to double James Madison’s lead, forcing Rosen to call a timeout.
James Madison’s offense kept the engine going as attacker Savannah Derey notched back-to-back goals in two minutes to push the lead to 4-0. Epke and attacker Payton Root scored two goals each to make it eight unanswered goals with three minutes left in the first quarter. Grollman, who had been pulled in each of the last two games, was pulled again during the first quarter in favor of Colleen Berardino.
“When goals go in, maybe change it up a little bit,” Rosen said. “Colleen went in and did a nice job, with Taylor ready. I thought she did a really nice job when she went back in, and we’re fortunate enough to have two goalkeepers ready to play.”
Temple midfielder Sabrina Martin attempted to weather the storm by scoring the Owls’ first goal of the game with two minutes left in the first period. The optimism was short-lived and Derey answered with 11 seconds left in the first quarter with her third goal of the period to cap James Madisons nine-goal first quarter.
Epke maintained the Dukes’ momentum with her fourth goal of the game to give them a 10-1 lead 90 seconds into the second period. The Owls’ defense began to settle in and held James Madison scoreless for 10 minutes. Temple’s offense wasn’t able to make the most of the Dukes’ dormant offense, scoring just one goal courtesy of midfielder Erin King.
James Madison attacker Olivia Mattis ended the Dukes’ cold stretch with three minutes left in the second quarter and Epke notched another goal two minutes later to make it a 12-2 lead entering halftime.
Grollman re-entered the game to start the second half and her play improved, giving up just one third quarter goal. Once again, the Owls’ offense ran in place and scored just two goals during the quarter, failing to cut into the deficit and entered the last quarter trailing 13-4.
Grollman failed to match her third quarter performance in the final 15 minutes, as Devery scored her fourth goal of the game 31 seconds into the fourth quarter. Epke tacked on two more goals to finish the day with a career high of eight goals and push James Madison’s lead to 15-4.
The Dukes put home two more late goals for good measure and the Owls’ offense never found the back of the net to close out the game. James Madison finished the game with 34 more total shots than Temple and 21 more shots on goal.
“Our theme all week was never satisfied and always grateful,” Rosen said. “All year round, this team has gotten better, players are getting better each week. We’ll reflect on today and really put in five days of work to get ready for Old Dominion.”
The Owls will head down to Norfolk, Virginia, as they take on Old Dominion (8-6, 1-2 American Athletic Conference) on April 19 at noon.
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