Senior midfielder/back Becky Gerhart was a freshman when Temple field hockey won its last Big East conference game, against Quinnipiac University in 2016.
Against Georgetown Friday afternoon, she scored a goal and had the game-winning assist to junior midfielder/back Dani Batze in overtime.
Batze’s goal led the Owls (5-5, 1-3 Big East Conference) to a 2-1 overtime win against the Hoyas (5-8, 1-3 The Big East) in Washington, D.C.
“Scoring this game winner is definitely up there in my favorite Temple field hockey moments,” Batze said.
The win relieves some pressure for the Owls, coach Susan Ciufo said.
“We’re very proud of the ladies for their first Big East win since 2016. It was lingering,” Ciufo said. “We know how hard they have been working, to see the goal come to life was really special.”
The Owls were effective on the offensive end, as they put 10 shots on cage and received 13 penalty corners.
The Owls shut down the Hoyas in the second and third quarter. They took seven shots during both quarters, while the Hoyas did not take a single shot.
Batze and sophomore backs Nienke Orlemans and Annie Judge stopped everything that came near the other end of the field.
The momentum carried the Owls in the third quarter as their offense capitalized.
Gerhart scored on a corner with 11:52 left in the quarter to put the Owls up 1-0.
Gerogetown found ways to generate offensive moves in the final quarter. The Hoyas put five shots on cage, compared to one shot by Temple during the quarter.
Hoyas junior back Anna Farley scored with 3:19 left in quarter to tie the game 1-1 to send the game to overtime.
In overtime Temple put two shots on cage compared to one shot put on cage by the Hoyas.
It went down to the final minutes of overtime. Gerhart connected to Batze for a goal, to give the Owls their first Big East win of the year.
“We really needed this win and being able to secure the win really means a lot for everyone on the team,” Batze said.
The Owls have struggled in recent years, but this group is coming together and have the potential to accomplish great things, Gerhart said.
“Things haven’t always gone the way we wanted in the past but this group of girls just keeps moving forward, always hungry for the next chance,” she said.
This win is a testament to the Owls’ preparation during the week, Ciufo said.
“Today was a hard game mentally and physically,” Ciufo said. “We woke up and had 6 a.m. practices on the FieldTurf all week to prepare. Most importantly, we prepared our minds to not complain about the difference in surface and to just accept it.”
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