The Owls lost to Buffalo and Niagara last weekend. Senior forward Niki Conn was lost to injury.
This weekend’s road games did not pan out as the women’s soccer team had hoped.
The Owls fell to Buffalo, 3-0, on Friday and suffered a 1-0 double-overtime loss to Niagara last Sunday.
“The team worked extremely hard and competed like we have not yet seen this year,” coach Matt Gwilliam said. “We were unfortunate at times this weekend. We showed the ability to create quite a few legitimate chances today that we need to finish.”
Friday’s matchup against Buffalo marked game three of the Owls’ five road games before they return to Ambler campus. While the Owls played aggressive offensively, the shots that mattered were the three from Buffalo that found net.
Owls’ senior forward Niki Conn and junior midfielder Brittany Wollner were responsible for eight of the nine shots on goal. Despite the team’s best efforts, the Owls were not rewarded with a goal.
“We need to work on stepping up and winning the second ball, and get finishing down,” Wollner said. “If we keep putting pressure on and getting forward, we’ll get our chances.”
The first half quickly turned into a Buffalo lead in the eighth minute of play, when a carefully maneuvered shot by Bulls’ junior defender Katie Kerr just passed the reach of Owls’ junior goalkeeper Tara Murphy. The score remained until five minutes into the second half, when Bulls’ junior midfielder Taylor Thompson scored Buffalo’s second goal.
The Owls then launched a convincing counterattack, firing three successive shots on goal while maintaining their presence in the Bulls’ defensive end. But the Buffalo defense held its ground and they secured their win with a final goal by Bulls’ freshman forward Katie Roberts in the closing minutes.
Sunday’s game proved to be a closer matchup for the Owls. The Cherry and White fell to the Niagara Purple Eagles, 1-0, in double overtime.
“Niagara was a cruel game for us,” Gwilliam said. “I have to give credit to [Niagara senior goalkeeper Gabrielle Wilson]. She stood tall against us and came up with some real quality stops. With that said, it still doesn’t take away from our inability to finish around goal. Again, little things that need to be the focus of training.”
Scoring unassisted for the Purple Eagles was sophomore forward Breanna Catipovic, who leads the team with seven shots for the season. Her goal came about when she made a long run down the field and netted the ball from outside box. Conn was noticeably absent from Temple’s lineup due to injury. Like the Buffalo game, Temple outshot Niagara 15-12. Owls’ junior midfielder Kate Yurkovic played a solid game with five shots.
The Temple Owls are now 2-4-0, and will face Rider this Friday, Sept. 16 in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Elizabeth Sim can be reached at esim@temple.edu.
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