Temple University Athletics
Friday, August 26
Philadelphia, Pa. (Saint Joseph's)
1:00 p.m.
Temple University
vs
Syracuse
Photo by: Keith Lucas, Sideline Media Productions
Field Hockey Opens 2016 Season With #2 Syracuse on Friday
8.25.16 | Field Hockey
PHILADELPHIA - The sixth annual Conference Cup Tournament returns to the City of Brotherly Love this year, and will see Temple field hockey begin the 2016 season with a match-up against defending national champion and No. 2 Syracuse. All four games of the tournament will be hosted by Saint Joseph's University, and the Owls will get the action started when they play the Orange at 1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 26.
Following Temple's game on Friday, host Saint Joseph's will play No. 6 Maryland at 4 p.m. On Sunday, Aug. 28, Maryland and Syracuse will play at noon before Temple faces off against SJU at 3 p.m.Â
The Owls and the Hawks will celebrate Phila Field Hockey Day on Sunday, and will sign autographs for young fans after the game.
Coming off an 8-13 season and a second-straight appearance in the BIG EAST Championship game, Temple will have a new look in 2016 after the loss of 10 seniors to graduation. The Owls, who received six votes in the NFHCA Preseason Top 20 Poll, will be led by four seniors in Katie Foran, Paige Gross, Ali Meszaros and Michelle Walsh. Five of the Owls' 13 returning players started in at least half of the team's games last season.Â
Sarah Keer, returning for her fourth season as a redshirt junior, and junior Rachael Mueller, scored four goals apiece to tie for fourth on the team in 2015. Gross, juniors Maiyah Brown and Hattie Kuhns and redshirt sophomore Maris Stern all notched two goals apiece last year.
Redshirt sophomore Ashley Kucera returns in the midfield after making 11 starts in her first active season with the Owls. Meszaros, who started in 18 of 21 games and notched an assist, returns to help anchor the backfield.
The goalkeeping position will see sophomore Chloe Johnson and freshman Maddie Lilliock vying for the spot, with both being relative newcomers as Johnson played just 13 minutes in the cage last year. Many other freshmen will be counted on to make an immediate impact, and the talent level is deep among the eight-member rookie class.
This year marks the third in a row in which Temple will face the defending national champion. The Owls play UConn as part of their BIG EAST Conference schedule, and the Huskies were national champs in both 2013 and 2014.
Syracuse claimed its first-ever national title in 2015 after going 21-1 overall and a perfect 16-0 in the ACC. Now in her 10th year as head coach, Ange Bradley was both the ACC Coach of the Year and NFHCA Mideast Region Coach of the Year last season. The Orange swept all four major conference awards, and return ACC Rookie of the Year Roos Weers in 2016. Weers was the team's third-leading scorer with 14 goals, and tied for the team lead with nine assists as a freshman. The Orange have lost their top two scorers as well as their starting goalkeeper from last year.
Temple has a winning record of 4-3 all-time against Syracuse, but the teams last faced each other in 2007. The unranked Owls won that contest 1-0 against the 20th-ranked Orange on the road.
Saint Joseph's went 9-9 overall in 2015 with a 5-3 mark in the Atlantic 10. The third-seeded Hawks fell to second-seeded UMass in the A-10 Tournament semifinals to end their season. Saint Joseph's top player returns for just her sophomore season, as Anna Willocks led the team and the conference with 16 goals and 36 points on her way to being named A-10 Offensive Player of the Year and A-10 Rookie of the Year.
The Owls edged the Hawks 3-2 at home last season on Sept. 7. Gross scored the game-winner on an assist from Kuhns with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. Temple holds an all-time record of 25-10 against Saint Joseph's, and the Owls have won the past six meetings against SJU.
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Following Temple's game on Friday, host Saint Joseph's will play No. 6 Maryland at 4 p.m. On Sunday, Aug. 28, Maryland and Syracuse will play at noon before Temple faces off against SJU at 3 p.m.Â
The Owls and the Hawks will celebrate Phila Field Hockey Day on Sunday, and will sign autographs for young fans after the game.
Coming off an 8-13 season and a second-straight appearance in the BIG EAST Championship game, Temple will have a new look in 2016 after the loss of 10 seniors to graduation. The Owls, who received six votes in the NFHCA Preseason Top 20 Poll, will be led by four seniors in Katie Foran, Paige Gross, Ali Meszaros and Michelle Walsh. Five of the Owls' 13 returning players started in at least half of the team's games last season.Â
Sarah Keer, returning for her fourth season as a redshirt junior, and junior Rachael Mueller, scored four goals apiece to tie for fourth on the team in 2015. Gross, juniors Maiyah Brown and Hattie Kuhns and redshirt sophomore Maris Stern all notched two goals apiece last year.
Redshirt sophomore Ashley Kucera returns in the midfield after making 11 starts in her first active season with the Owls. Meszaros, who started in 18 of 21 games and notched an assist, returns to help anchor the backfield.
The goalkeeping position will see sophomore Chloe Johnson and freshman Maddie Lilliock vying for the spot, with both being relative newcomers as Johnson played just 13 minutes in the cage last year. Many other freshmen will be counted on to make an immediate impact, and the talent level is deep among the eight-member rookie class.
This year marks the third in a row in which Temple will face the defending national champion. The Owls play UConn as part of their BIG EAST Conference schedule, and the Huskies were national champs in both 2013 and 2014.
Syracuse claimed its first-ever national title in 2015 after going 21-1 overall and a perfect 16-0 in the ACC. Now in her 10th year as head coach, Ange Bradley was both the ACC Coach of the Year and NFHCA Mideast Region Coach of the Year last season. The Orange swept all four major conference awards, and return ACC Rookie of the Year Roos Weers in 2016. Weers was the team's third-leading scorer with 14 goals, and tied for the team lead with nine assists as a freshman. The Orange have lost their top two scorers as well as their starting goalkeeper from last year.
Temple has a winning record of 4-3 all-time against Syracuse, but the teams last faced each other in 2007. The unranked Owls won that contest 1-0 against the 20th-ranked Orange on the road.
Saint Joseph's went 9-9 overall in 2015 with a 5-3 mark in the Atlantic 10. The third-seeded Hawks fell to second-seeded UMass in the A-10 Tournament semifinals to end their season. Saint Joseph's top player returns for just her sophomore season, as Anna Willocks led the team and the conference with 16 goals and 36 points on her way to being named A-10 Offensive Player of the Year and A-10 Rookie of the Year.
The Owls edged the Hawks 3-2 at home last season on Sept. 7. Gross scored the game-winner on an assist from Kuhns with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. Temple holds an all-time record of 25-10 against Saint Joseph's, and the Owls have won the past six meetings against SJU.
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Players Mentioned
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GK
/ Field Hockey
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