Temple University field hockey captured its second conference win of the season Friday night.
The Owls (6-8, 2-4 Big East Conference) beat Villanova ( 6-9,1-5 Big East Conference) 3-0 at Howarth Field.
The Owls put 10 shots on cage and capitalized on three of those opportunities.
One of those opportunities came early on in the second quarter. Sophomore back Nienke Oerelmans inserted a corner to sophomore midfielder Kerrie Lorenz, who passed it to junior midfielder/back Dani Batze. Batze shot it on cage and sophomore midfielder/forward Claire Thomas got a piece of it to put the Owls up 1-0.
Early in the third quarter, Oerlemans tapped the ball into the cage on penalty corner for a goal to put the Owls up 2-0. Oerlemans inserted the ball to the top of the circle, where it was passed to Lorenz for a shot; Oerlemans was the last to touch the ball before it hit the back of the cage.
In the first 15 seconds of the fourth quarter, senior midfielder/forward Kathryn Edgar scored on a penalty stroke to extend the Owls’ lead to 3-0.
The Owls emphasized scoring opportunities in practice this week, coach Susan Ciufo said.
“We did a lot of drills that were focused on shooting on goal and trying to generate a corner when we were in the circle,” Ciufo said. “They were really hungry after that Towson game on Sunday and that showed in their play.”
The offense has learned from past experiences, which is helping the group improve, Edgar said.
“It was a huge focus for us in practice this week and it was a huge focus for us to build on those chances,” Edgar said. “I think our forwards did a great job learning from last Sunday’s game, and just finding a way to attack as a team tonight.”
The defense played well, holding the Wildcats to seven shots and stopping eight corner attempts.
The penalty corner unit was very effective and redshirt-sophomore midfielder Natalie Burns was a key part of that success, Ciufo said.
“We have the best fly in the nation, Natalie Burns is a beast and that’s part of the reason she’s out there,” Ciufo said. “We are confident when she is defending a corner it’s really hard to get through her.”
Next, the Owls will take on Rutgers University ( 9-6, 4-3 Big Ten Conference) at Bauer Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Piscataway, New Jersey.
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