The Owls traveled to Bethlehem, Pa. to participate in the Lehigh Tournament on Saturday.
“I thought it was good,” coach Bonnie Rosen said. “We definitely got better throughout the day. We played around with different combinations of players. We have a lot of work to do.”
Temple played the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at 9 a.m., followed by the Marist Red Foxes at 11 a.m. The Owls later competed against the Aldephi Panthers at 1 p.m.. The teams did not record the scores of the games.
“Our fall has been really focused on working on our skillset,” Rosen said. “We really feel if we can improve our skillset, we can do so much more. So, it’s hard to tell how good we can be. There’s still a lot to do.”
The 2014 Owls will feature 21 underclassmen, consisting of eight freshmen and 13 sophomores, who will try and replace the production of notable senior departures such as leading scorers Stephany Parcell and Charlotte Swavola. Temple also lost starting goalkeeper Meghan Clothier to graduation. All three served as captains in 2013.
“With the freshman, they were nervous and a little apprehensive,” Rosen said. “By the second game, they started to show the things we recruited them for. I think a few of our returning players, who have experience, still need to step up and own their team.”
Two of the Owls’ top five scorers return with senior forward Jaymie Tabor and sophomore forward Rachel Schwaab.
With former goalkeeper Meghan Clothier graduated, one of the biggest questions for the Owls will start between the bars. Redshirt sophomore Jaqi Kakalecik and junior Rachel Hall shared the duties in Saturday’s tournament. The two goalkeepers will continue to compete for playing time.
“It’s really even [between Kakalecik and Hall],” Rosen said “I think it’s going to be a battle. They both need to get better for what we need”.
Brien Edwards can be reached at brien.erick.edwards@temple.edu or on Twitter @BErick1123.
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