Two Temple lacrosse players each score four goals in win

Junior midfielder Amber Lambeth scored the first goal for the Owls, then added three more, as the Owls (4-3) defeated East Carolina (1-7) 15-6 Tuesday afternoon at Howarth Field.

Lambeth’s opening goal marked the first time this season the Owls scored the first goal of a game.

The game was moved up one day due to an impending winter storm coming to the area. A Winter Storm Warning from the National Weather Service will be in effect from 10 p.m. Wednesday until 3 a.m. on Friday.

“I think our team was really excited for the game to be moved up a day, certainly to play in better weather” coach Bonnie Rosen said. “We’ve been working really hard over spring break. I think the idea of playing a game was actually probably pretty exciting for them.”

The Owls held a slim, 6-5, lead after the first half. The Owls’ offense got rolling in the second half, scoring nine straight goals in 14 minutes, 16 seconds. They earned a running clock for three minutes with their 10-goal lead.

Like Lambeth, sophomore midfielder Maddie Gebert scored four goals. She now leads the team with 14 goals this season.

Senior attackers Kira Gensler and Toni Yuko each scored twice, and freshman midfielder Jackie Cerchio had five assists.

Cerchio’s five assists and seven points are both career-highs. Cerchio now leads Temple with seven assists.

Temple never trailed after Yuko’s goal with 18:20 left in the first half tied the game at three. East Carolina, which is in its first lacrosse season and will join the American Athletic Conference’s lacrosse league next season with Temple and four other schools, scored three goals after Lambeth’s initial tally.

Temple countered the Pirates’ three-goal run with five consecutive first-half scores.

“I wasn’t surprised at all to see the fight in the first half,” Rosen said. “From watching film, I knew they’d be fast and aggressive. So I knew that we would have to weather their barrage of attacks.”

“I was really excited to get a chance for our team to play East Carolina since they’ll be in our conference next year,” Rosen added.

The Pirates only scored one goal in the second half. Freshman attacker Nicole LeGar scored her 12th goal of the season and her third of the game with 11:30 left.

Temple’s next game is at home against La Salle (2-2) on Monday at 3 p.m. La Salle causes 13.25 turnovers per game, which ranks fourth in Division I early in the season.