Temple Field Hockey’s home opener at Howarth Field Friday afternoon was the team’s first time stepping on the field since their heartbreaking Big East tournament semifinal loss against Old Dominion on Nov. 3 2023. The team hoped to wash it away by jumping out to an early lead to kick off its season.
The Owls did just that, wasting no time flexing their muscles on the Royals Friday afternoon.
Temple quickly scored four goals in the first 20 minutes of play. The Owls refused to let their foot off the gas pedal coming out of the break, sprinting to a convincing win in their season opener.
Temple (1-0, 0-0 Big East) dominated Queens (0-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) 7-0 Friday afternoon at Howarth Field. The Owls’ seven goals were the most since they beat Towson 9-0 on Aug. 30, 2015, and featured three players netting their first career goal.
“We won a bunch of 50-50 balls and played physical and played with a toughness in our midfield that I liked,” said Temple head coach Michelle Vittese. “I was just proud of the way that they played today, but there is a lot of growth and development that can happen moving forward.”
The game marked the first-ever matchup between Temple and Queens, and both teams were deadlocked for the first 13 minutes — seemingly evenly matched. Midfielder Halle Aschenbach ended the scoreless tie with just a minute remaining in the opening quarter. She found the back of the net for her first career goal as the Owls seized the lead.
Midfielder Peyton Rieger followed suit just a minute later with a goal of her own, giving Temple the upper hand as the first quarter came to a close.
The Owls doubled their lead in the second quarter, with midfielder Tess Muller adding a goal and an assist. Midfielder Marsha Ariesen also contributed a goal to round out the first-half scoring, and Temple went to the locker room with a commanding 4-0 lead.
“I think I just wanna play with the team like we’ve always done,” Muller said. “I wanna make everyone want to have most fun because I think that’s when we capitalize it most and I think that’s our biggest goal for this team.”
Reiger found the back of the net again just two minutes after the break and the Owls were rolling once again. Midfielder Isabella Pisano also entered the fray with a goal of her own five minutes into the third quarter.
While Temple’s offense added to their lead, the defense made sure Queens had no breathing room to come back. The Royals had just two shots all game and their first wasn’t attempted until the 10-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
Midfielder Devin Kinzel scored one last goal in the fourth quarter to polish off the commanding win. The Owls offense fired off 38 shots all game, with 25 being on goal. Alex Lepore got the start in goal for Temple, but didn’t face a shot before being pulled after halftime.
“Try[ing] to keep my mistakes low and just enjoy it because it doesn’t come around that easily,” Lepore said. “I am just very grateful. So I think just staying true to myself and true to my play, and just continuing that.”
The Owls will hit the road this weekend to take on Lock Haven (0-1, 0-0 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) on Sept. 1, at Charlotte E. Smith Field.
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