Despite losing by a bigger margin, coach Seamus O’Connor thought Temple University’s women’s soccer team played better in its game against Boston College than against Lehigh University.
The Owls started off the weekend by losing 2-0 to Lehigh on Friday in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
“I got more players in the game and changed our style of play a little bit to accommodate more players, but it just didn’t work,” O’Connor said. “Friday night was quite disappointing. Even still, we had enough chances to tie it or win it, but it just wasn’t the kind of soccer we’ve been playing.”
After each team was scoreless in the first half, the Mountain Hawks scored two second-half goals.
Mountain Hawks’ freshman forward Rebecca Van Siclen scored in the 53rd minute to break the tie. Three minutes after Van Siclen’s goal, freshman forward Courtney Supp scored to extend the Mountain Hawks’ lead to two.
The Owls (3-4) then lost lost to Boston College, 4-1, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to close out the weekend.
The Eagles started the scoring attack with two first-half goals. Eagles’ sophomore forward Sam Coffey scored on a penalty kick in the 26th minute. Coffey now has five goals this season.
Five minutes after Coffey’s penalty kick, redshirt junior midfielder Kayla Jennings scored her first goal of the season to extend the Eagles’ lead to two.
The Owls’ only goal of the match came in the 61st minute when senior forward Kerri McGinley scored her second goal of the season.
The Eagles responded by scoring two late second-half goals. Senior forward Carly Leipzig scored in the 77th minute and junior forward Olivia Vaughn scored in the 87th minute. Vaughn now has five goals this season.
Despite losing to an undefeated Boston College team (8-0), O’Connor was pleased with the team’s performance.
“We kind of went back to playing the style of play that I think suits us, which means we don’t have as many options off the bench,” O’Connor said. “That hurt us. We had a lot of players who played 90 minutes. On the back end of a road trip, that’s hard. I’m extremely happy with the standard we played.”
O’Connor said Boston College gave the Owls a chance to understand what needed to be fixed before playing conference games, because the Eagles are in the top three of their conference.
The Owls also made a change at goalkeeper. Senior Jordan Nash made her first start of the season on Sunday. Nash saved three shots from the Eagles.
“We just wanted to give her a chance and see what she can bring to the game,” O’Connor said. “You’re always one injury away from being the second goalkeeper. Today was a good opportunity to give her some experience and keep her sharp. It’s important that we have two goalkeepers at the same time.”
The Owls will be back in action on Friday against the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
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