Chris Shaw knew it would be an uphill battle when he accepted the job to be Temple Women’s Soccer’s head coach. The former Robert Morris University coach was hired in January and tasked with leading a program that was on a nosedive.
Shaw knew turning around the program was a challenging task, but took on the job anyway and was confident he could bring the Owls the same success he had brought to his previous pit stops. It didn’t take long before his impact sent shockwaves across his team.
It only took two games for Shaw to give his new squad a wake-up call.
The Owls were blanked 4-0 on Aug. 18 to Villanova, just days after almost upsetting Monmouth. Shaw pulled the upperclassmen aside, relaying to the leaders of the team that “as they go, the team goes,” and that the remainder of the season hinged on them stepping up.
Shaw’s first order of business was to work to instill a winning mentality even before the players step on the field — something easier said than done for a team that went eight straight games without scoring last season. Shaw gave his team a goal; earn its first American Athletic Conference tournament berth since 2018.
“Ultimately, we think success is getting into the conference tournament,” Shaw said. “I think it’s baby steps to get there. There’s got to be gradual improvements throughout the entire season. But, we’ve got our eyes on trying to get a bid into that conference tournament.”
The Owls spent the last four years under the guidance of former head coach Nick Bochette, who was let go in November 2023. The program floundered under his leadership with a pitiful 12-37-11 record that included a 20-game conference losing streak.
Shaw had no previous knowledge of Temple’s program until he stumbled across an opening for the head coaching position online. He was sold after he visited campus and saw the facilities and resources in the athletic department.
The veteran coach arrived on North Broad after serving four years as the head coach at Robert Morris. The Colonials improved each year under his guidance, topped off by their best season in program history in 2023. They finished with a 12-5-3 record and earned their first-ever trip to the Horizon League Tournament.
“Every program is different and you have to get a feel for the needs of the program and find out what is lacking,” Shaw said. “Is it a winning mentality? Is it the talent level of the players? At Temple, I think we’ve come in to try and change the mentality. It’s about us trying to raise the standards and expectations and hold them accountable to those.”
Shaw implemented a possession-oriented style of offense upon arrival, hoping to creatively maintain and pass the ball to open up scoring opportunities — something the Owls were rarely able to accomplish last season.
The team has yet to reap the benefits and have been unsuccessful in progressing down the field to create scoring opportunities during their first three games, managing just 15 shots and converting none.
The lack of offense has left the defense running in place. The Owls have conceded nine goals and allowed 82 shots in the first three games. Goalkeeper Tamsin Bynoe has been a bright spot, but the constant pressure has broken her stone wall.
Shaw has made it a priority to fix the offense, working to ensure the team is more confident in maintaining possession of the ball and moving it around. The results have yet to show, but the team hopes to gain confidence to shoot when chances arise.
“In the future, we need to take more chances going forward and just be aggressive,” Bynoe said. “ If we don’t score goals we can’t win games.”
Temple defender Phoebe Hollin, one of the team’s longest-tenured players, believes the defense can turn the table for the rest of the season.
“I think as long as we keep our mentality of not wanting to concede goals, we can be consistent with our defense,” Hollin said. “Patience is key, especially in the backline not diving in and making sure we don’t lose our heads.”
The goal-scoring success in Shaw’s first three games hasn’t come. But the attitude he has brought to North Broad has created an atmosphere that hasn’t been felt in recent years. This change of mentality has brought a unique style of coaching and attitude, signaling hope to the program for the first time in a while.
“I knew that this was going to be a process and it wasn’t going to be an overnight fix and that you have to be patient, ” Shaw said. “You can’t expect to win 10-12 games coming from two wins overnight. As long as we are improving day to day and week to week, then we’re happy.”
Be the first to comment