Temple Women’s Soccer (0-3-1, 0-0 American Athletic Conference) lost its third game of the season to its cross-town rival, Villanova (2-0-1, 0-0 Big East Conference), 3-0 earlier today at the Temple Sports Complex. The Wildcats got on the board early and stayed ahead, extending the Owls’ winless streak to 10 games.
Villanova controlled possession of the ball and had many opportunities to score. The Wildcats generated 11 shots on goal throughout the game.
Temple struggled out of the gate, as Villanova forward Makayla Stadler sent a shot into the top left corner to put the Owls down 1-0 just three minutes into the matchup.
“It’s a really difficult way to start a game,” said Temple women’s soccer head coach Nick Bochette. “There was a lot of good in the first 30 minutes, but when you’re basically giving a very good team a one-goal head start, you feel like you’re digging out of a hole from the start.”
From there, Temple continued to have issues getting shots on goals in the first half. When Temple had chances to score, the attackers could not capitalize.
Villanova wouldn’t wait long before extending its lead. In the 16th minute, defender Olivia Packer fired a header off a corner kick into the net to extend the Villanova lead.
The Owls fought back in the remainder of the first half and into the second, but the same issues plagued them. Every time Temple had a chance to score, no one gave the Owls a way back into the game.
In the 54th minute, Villanova midfielder Maddie Fried delivered a through ball to Stadler, who chipped it over Temple goalkeeper Tamsin Bynoe for Stadler’s second goal of the game. That gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead, putting the game out of reach from the Owls.
“There’s been an improvement over the last three games,” Bochette said. “So I’m very proud of the effort the student-athletes put in because they’re still believing in themselves. They still know they can score goals, and I think it’s more of doing the little things that precede scoring goals.”
The Owls, still looking for their first win since Oct. 1, 2022, will face Lehigh (1-0-2, 0-0 Patriot League) on Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.
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