Temple University will wait until Friday to name one of its three goalkeepers as its starter to begin the season against the University of Delaware, coach Bonnie Rosen said.
Each goaltender has her strengths and could be a full-time starter, Rosen said. Junior Maryn Lowell possesses “veteran experience,” and the team can count on sophomore Olivia Martin because she is consistent. Senior Kelsea Hershey can play an important role but has battled injuries the past two seasons, Rosen added.
“It all depends on how everyone’s practicing and competing in games,” Rosen said. “They each have their own style. …One playing at a high level really can be effective against different style offenses.”
Lowell has spent 1,645:06 minutes guarding the Temple goal in 35 career games, the most of the trio. She started at least 14 games in the 2017 and 2018 seasons and owns a career .462 save percentage and 11.45 goals-against average.
Hershey has never played more than 10 games in a season due to injuries, but she is one of the Owls’ four captains for the season because of her ability to step up at key times, Rosen said. Hershey appeared in four of the Owls’ final six games last season. She made seven saves in her only start, Temple’s final game of 2018 against nationally ranked Georgetown University.
Martin didn’t start any games during her freshman season, but made five relief appearances in net. Martin has played 19:28 of collegiate lacrosse and allowed five goals while making two saves.
The three goalkeepers’ different skills play off each other, which creates a positive dynamic even though they compete against each other for the same spot, Martin said.
“[Hershey] is really good at talking, and [Martin] has been doing really well at low shots lately,” Lowell said. “And she tends to be more always set, where I tend to move around a lot in a spazzy way.”
Lowell plays farther out in the goal crease than most goalies to eliminate shooting angles because of her height. Lowell is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, two inches shorter than Martin and five inches shorter than Hershey.
While Lowell tends to move around in goal, Martin prefers to be more conservative with her movements to track that ball better, she said
As the youngest of the Owls’ three goalkeepers, Martin asks Lowell and Hershey for advice to be a better goalie.
Lowell’s ability to intercept passes in the scoring area and Hershey’s patience to be prepared for rebound opportunities are areas where she hopes to improve, Martin said.
During games, Hershey wants to become “a little more comfortable being more dynamic.”
“[I enjoy] getting to play alongside Maryn and Kelsea and learn from their tricks of the trade and picking up the habits they have and working off of those,” Martin said.
Temple hopes to earn an NCAA Tournament bid this season. The Owls will begin to achieve that goal as they host Delaware at 3 p.m. at Howarth Field.
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