In the general world of sports there is usually an opponent on a teams’ schedule whose record is not reflective of their performance on the field. Temple’s lacrosse team had one of those opponents on its schedule. The Delaware Blue Hens fell just short of upsetting the No. 19 Owls in a 11-10 come-from-behind win for Temple (10-4, 5-0 Atlantic 10) at Geasey Field yesterday.
“Coming off a couple of our A-10 games, our last three games have been pretty easy and I think this was a little bit of a shock. We needed to be a little more quicker today, a little bit more agile,” Temple coach Kim Ciarrocca said.
Before Delaware the Owls beat LaSalle, Saint Joseph’s and Massachusetts, who have a combined record of 14-24.
“We definitely had one of the worst offensive games of the season. We didn’t do what we came out to do and we just have to work on it,” senior attack Noelle Cebron said. “[In the second half] we had to regroup.”
Cebron was one of several players who gave Temple a boost, scoring back-to-back goals in just over a minute of play in the second half. Cebron’s second goal of the game brought the Owls within one goal of the Blue Hens, 10-9. She muscled her way into the middle, spun, knocking a defender to the ground, putting the ball through the net and past Delaware goalkeeper Laurie Tortorelli who made 19 saves in a whirlwind of blocks and scoops.
“This is the best goalie we’ve seen all year, no doubt,” Ciarrocca said. “When we went to scout them I knew that. She’s excellent. She’s a very good player. I think our defense let a few goals in early and I think we hit her a few times and they jumped down in front of us.”
The Owls were down early after Delaware scored a goal within the first minute of play to go up 1-0. Soon after, Temple saw itself down 3-0. Some poor passing and sloppy recovery hurt the Owls early on.
“They were physical, we’ve seen a lot of physical teams but we just weren’t very on today,” junior midfielder Liz Frengs said.
Junior midfielder Jessica Yemm scored Temple’s first goal at 13:45, off a sideline pass from junior midfielder Patience Synnestvedt.
Synnestvedt scored three goals and an assist, sophomore Tiffany Pulaski added a pair of goals, Frengs netted one goal and two assists, and senior midfielder Robin Keevan scored two goals and one assist. Junior goalkeeper Sheena Oommen had 10 saves for the Owls.
Frengs played a key role in the comeback and worked her way around the field early on. She showed the defense an array of moves and jukes on her goal in the Owls’ first half rally, bringing Temple within two goals, 5-3. She then assisted on Cebron’s first goal bringing the Owls within one of the Blue Hens, 5-4 before the half. To top it off, at the start of the second half Frengs found an open Pulaski who netted the game-tying goal, 5-5.
“I’m not the best shooter on the team, I’m not the best defender so I just try to hustle all the time,” Frengs said.
The second half hustle paid off for Frengs and the Owls who did not play like they have in recent weeks.
“I just think we were a little slow today, we had quicksand feet,” Ciarrocca said.
Temple will round out its season with home games against St. Bonaventure Friday and Duquense Sunday before the Atlantic 10 Championships.
Delaware could have probably knocked the Owls out of the national rankings had they won, and could have shaken a team who is virtually unstoppable in the A-10.
There was a lesson learned today.
“To be ready for everyone,” Ciarrocca said. “To just come right off the jar and go hard; take it from the beginning.”
Chris Silva can reached at Cbsrican@aol.com
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