Slow start dooms Temple lacrosse against Saint Joseph’s

Temple (1-3) lost to Saint Joesph’s (2-2) 17-7 at Howarth Field Wednesday afternoon. The Owls trailed 11-1 at halftime and could never catch up.

Senior midfielder Bridget Cerceillo led the Hawks’ offense with six goals. Junior attacker Stephanie Kelly added three goals and two assists. Sophomore attacker Lauren Figura, junior attacker Sam McGee and junior midfielder Taylor Newman-Farr all scored two goals each. 

The Hawks’ speed was too much to handle and they used their dodges efficiently, which slowed down the Owls’ defense, coach Bonnie Rosen said. 

“They dodged through some of our defense,” Rosen said. “We didn’t close our bodies well and Saint Joseph’s did a really nice job of just attacking with speed. Either they got themselves a goal or they caught an early draw foul. That kind of wore us down early on.” 

The Owls’ offense could not generate enough production, scoring only seven goals. Freshman midfielder Belle Mastropietro and senior attacker Olivia Thompson led the team with two goals each. 

The Owls had 18 turnovers. They played sloppily and started off slow, which is one the reasons they lost, Rosen said.

“It was disappointing to see us come out as sloppy as we were today,” Rosen said. “Our offense turned the ball over too much. The biggest thing we’ve learned is we’ve got to make sure we consistently practice at a higher level, so we are more prepared for the start of the game.”

The team is not discouraged by its mistakes and will learn from the loss, senior attacker Maddie Gebert said.

“We have seven freshmen, it’s their first big loss of the season and it’s hard especially against another Philly five-team. It’s a game we really wanted to win,” Gebert said. “Coming off a close game against Princeton that we didn’t expect, it’s a hard loss. It’s good to learn from and it’s good moving forward.” 

The team will change its focus to the next opponent, senior defender Kara Nakrasius said. 

Temple will next play on Saturday at home against Coastal Carolina University (2-0) at 1 p.m. 

“We have a quick turnover, we take it day by day and this is a tough loss so we are moving on,” Nakrasius said. “We can analyze and look at film and see what we can do on Saturday.”