With back-to-back games this weekend, the No. 11 Temple Owls had to bounce back quickly from a disappointing 2-0 loss to Delaware.
They had no problem doing that, shutting out Monmouth University 6-0 on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a huge statement for our team,” coach Amanda Janney said. “I think we didn’t play our best hockey yesterday and it was important for us to turn around quickly and get back to Temple hockey.”
“As a coach it’s really important how your team responds to losses,” Janney added. “We didn’t let Delaware beat us twice.”
Against Delaware, Temple struggled offensively. The Owls were outshot 19-10 and didn’t get anything established until the end, when it was too late.
The issues that hurt Temple on Friday night weren’t present for Saturday.
Janney made some tweaks to the lineup after Friday night, and those changes seemed to payoff.
The Owls outshot Monmouth 19-7 and didn’t waste any time getting their attack established.
“We changed our starting lineup and put [sophomore forward/midfielder Alyssa Delp] at the top on the front line,” Janney said. “That seemed to help and then we rotated the forwards a lot more often, so we had a lot more forwards up top to keep them fresh.”
Delp recorded a goal five minutes into the second half, scoring off of a pass across the net from the opposite post by junior forward Amber Youtz.
Youtz got one of her two assists on the play, but she did a lot more damage to Monmouth than that.
By the end of the game, Youtz had four goals and two assists. She finished with a total of 10 points, which has her tied for the most points in a single game amongst NCAA Division I players this season.
She got the Owls offense going with the first goal just over two-and-a-half minutes into the game. Then added another with four left to play in the first half.
In the second half, Youtz scored two more goals, earning the last with a penalty corner shot that found its way right to the back of the cage.
Naturally, Youtz, as well as the rest of the team, were in high spirits after the final horn. That was clear just by the smiles and laughter they shared in talking about Youtz’s performance.
“She’s got a nose for the net,” Delp said.
Redshirt junior goalkeeper and co-captain Lizzy Millen earned her second shutout of the year with a four save performance and sophomore midfielder Amanda Fuertsch scored the final goal of the day on a setup pass from Youtz.
The Owls (3-2) still hold the No.11 spot in the national rankings. Any changes to the team’s position in the rankings won’t be known until Tuesday.
Temple will hit the road next Friday, but won’t have to travel very far. The Owls will face Villanova in their first Big East Conference game of the year.
Nick Tricome can be reached at tue55707@temple.edu or on Twitter @itssnick215
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