Temple lacrosse has ‘a lot to prove’ in AAC’s second season

Temple University lacrosse is expecting to be a balanced team this season, coach Bonnie Rosen said.  

One player from each position was named to The American Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Team on Jan. 23. Among the four selected, three were unanimous. 

“All over the field, we have great people,” senior goalkeeper Maryn Lowell said. “There’s people at every position who were honored, and even people that weren’t selected certainly contribute a ton to our team as well.”

Lowell was named Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year in addition to being selected for the Preseason All-Conference Team. She started in 44 of 52 games since 2017. 

“Obviously, there’s still like a lot to prove,” Lowell said. “It wasn’t a unanimous selection, …which was actually really cool because that means that there are other people that are really high competitors.”

Senior attacker Maddie Gebert and senior defender Kara Nakrasius both made the Preseason All-Conference team for the second straight season and were selected unanimously. 

“We have this really nice, strong experienced group that comes back with our seniors and some of our juniors and some of our sophomores,” Rosen said. 

Both have played in more than 50 games in three seasons. 

“I think that goes a long way for our team,” Rosen added. 

Junior midfielder Bridget Whitaker, also a unanimous selection, received her first preseason honor. Whitaker was named to the All-AAC First Team and AAC All-Tournament Team at the end of last season. 

“This never happened to me before, so it’s super exciting,” Whitaker said. 

Whitaker is one of the team’s captains this season. 

“That’s something that just proves how much, not only as a player, but also as a player, that she has grown,” Lowell said. 

Whitaker played 15 games as a freshman in 2018 and scored nine goals. Last season, she scored 15 times and led the team with 21 assists. 

Whitaker is the only preseason honoree who will not graduate at the end of the season. The team has 10 seniors. 

“I don’t see the team changing too too much,” Gebert said. “I mean the junior class below is like I said, incredibly strong.”

While Gebert considers Whitaker to be a leader of the junior class, the entire group is talented, she said.

“Maybe we’re on the field a little bit more than them, but they are definitely hungry and ready to get after it, and the class below them is just as ready to get after it,” Gebert said. 

Once the season starts on Saturday, Rosen expects contributions from across the roster. 

“Our lineup this year is going to be a blast,” Rosen said. “We have a tremendous depth. There is impact coming from everywhere.” 

Preseason projections only mean so much, as they are only based on past performance, Rosen added. 

“You’ve got to play the season and earn who are now, not who you were before,” she added.