PHILADELPHIA, PA. 4/23/2016 – The Temple Owls stayed in contention for earning a spot in the Big East Tournament by defeating the Cincinnati Bearcats 10 – 4 on Senior Day at Geasey Field. There are three teams vying for two berths. The Owls win gets the team to 3 – 3 in conference and stand tied with Marquette, who lost to Georgetown, for fourth place. This win was important for the Cherry and White who will play third place Georgetown next week, the final day of regular season play.
“We’ve come down to the last two games to make our tournament, and it was a big day,” said Temple Coach Bonnie Rosen. “To come away with the win was the sole goal of the day, and we did that.”
Temple got a quick start getting goals from Brenda McDermott, the first of her three goals on the day, and Nicole Tiernan, her 17th of the season, less than three minutes into the game. McDermott scored her other goals, 24 this year, later in the first half as the Owls went into halftime leading 5 – 1. Temple outshot Cincinnati 16- 2 in the opening stanza, 11 – 2 for shots on net.
“It was nice to take control of the game early on,” Rosen said. “We knew that Cincinnati would come out hard and fast. To be able to handle the ball and find the opportunities with the ball when we wore them down was a huge key to establishing momentum and taking the lead.”
The Bearcats showed resolve scoring three of the next four goals midway in the second to cut the lead to 6 – 4 with 15:42 on the clock.
Showing resilience the Cherry and White got the dagger score from Megan Pinkerton at the 10:19 mark. The assist went to McDermott, her third of the contest which gives her a team-high 44 points.
“It is something we’ve been dealing with over the past couple of games, the pressure of holding leads and getting the win.” Rosen said. “The defense closed some things down and made defense simple. It allowed turnovers.”
Temple closed out the contest with three more scores. Rachel Schwaab scored her team leading 29th goal of the season for a season total of 43 points.
The Owls need to win and get some help next week to qualify for post-season play. They stayed on contention with this key victory.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
NOTES:
It was Senior Day for the 13 member senior class. The group has contributed 358 goals and 115 assists over the past four season for 473 points. The Class of 2016 consists of; Jaqi Kakalecik, Kara Stroup, Rachel Schwaab, Kirstie Connor, Avery Longstaff, Kari Longstaff, Megan Pinkerton, Maddie McTigue, Kathryn Skahan, Summer Jaros, Nicole Tiernan, Brenda McDermott and Megan Tiernan. It is unusual to have such a large group, but the have been special to Coach Rosen and to the program
“It’s a thrill to be able to have thirteen seniors on the team,” Rosen said. “They are all playing except for Kathryn (Skahan) who is out with an injury. It is amazing how they have led us to this point of the season. It culminates with the day where we celebrate them which was wonderful. We celebrate Senior Day every day around here because they have been such huge leaders.”
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