Lacrosse Plays at UConn in Final Regular Season Game on Saturday

Saturday, April 29

Storrs, Conn.

1:00 p.m.

Temple University

UConn

Photo by: Tommy Meehan

Lacrosse Plays at UConn in Final Regular Season Game on Saturday

4.27.17 | Women's Lacrosse

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PHILADELPHIA - The final game of the regular season will take Temple lacrosse to conference rival UConn in the Owls' final tune-up before the BIG EAST Championships. Temple (13-3, 6-2) will play the Huskies (7-8, 4-4) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 29. The Owls will move on to the tournament semifinals next week, while UConn's season will conclude on Saturday.

Headlines
» Temple had won six straight games before suffering a 15-5 loss to #2 Florida last weekend in its final home game. The Owls finished the season with a record of 7-1 at Howarth Field to break in their new facility.
» The Owls are 13-3 overall, marking their best start since the 1997 season. That team ultimately finished 14-3 and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals.
» With a come-from-behind, 11-10 win at Vanderbilt on April 15, Temple clinched its second-straight BIG EAST Championships berth. While seeding is yet to be determined, the Owls will join #2 Florida, #16 Denver and Georgetown for the tournament, hosted by Villanova on May 4 and 6.
» Temple has won eight of its games by two goals or less, and has won six times when tied or trailing in the final 10 minutes.
» Down 10-8 at Vanderbilt with 11:32 remaining, Temple scored the final three goals in a thrilling win. Seniors Carly Demato and Brenda McDermott scored four goals apiece, with Demato getting the game-winner with 64 seconds left.
» Freshman goalkeeper Maryn Lowell made a career-high 17 saves at Vanderbilt, the second-most saves in the BIG EAST this season. She was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week for a second time, and is 10-2 in the cage overall.
» In the Owls' second-to-last home game, they scored their most goals in over a year in beating new league member Butler, 19-7.
» McDermott notched six straight hat tricks before the loss to #2 Florida, and leads Temple with 35 goals and 30 assists for 65 total points (32nd in NCAA Division I). Her 4.06 points per game rank fifth in the BIG EAST, while her 1.88 assists per game also rank fifth.
» The Owls came back from three goals down in a 13-11 win vs. Villanova on April 8, and from four goals down in an 11-9 win at Cincinnati on April 1. McDermott scored all three of her goals in the Cincinnati win during a 6-0 closing run.
» The first of McDermott's six straight hat tricks came in a 17-16 overtime victory against Marquette on March 25 in the Owls' BIG EAST home opener, in which she scored the OT game-winner.
» Demato tallied her fifth hat trick of the season with a game-best four goals vs. Butler, and her sixth with four goals at Vanderbilt. She ranks second on the team with 29 goals and is tied for second with 36 total points.
» Two-time BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week, senior Morgan Glassford, has a team-best 63 draw controls and ranks fifth in the league with 4.20 draws per game. During the first half of the Villanova win on April 8, Glassford became the all-time career leader at Temple in draw controls, and has now recorded 164 career draws.

Scouting UConn
The Huskies are just 7-8 overall, but have won four straight heading into Saturday's contest. Most recently, UConn won a nail-biter at Villanova, 15-14 on April 22. The game against Temple will be the final game of the season for UConn, who is not advancing to the BIG EAST Tournament. Leading the Huskies this season is junior attacker Grace Nolan with 42 goals and 30 assists for a conference-best 4.80 points per game. Nolan, the BIG EAST Attacker of the Week on April 18, put up 17 points over two wins for UConn against Marquette and at Cincinnati. She scored four goals and added three assists in a 17-14 win over Marquette, followed by career-bests of five goals and five assists in an 18-11 win at Cincinnati. Freshman Grace Beshlian has played every minute in goal for UConn, with a save percentage of .448.

Temple vs. UConn
The Owls and the Huskies are meeting for the seventh time in program history, with the series record tied at 3-3. The teams split meetings last season, with UConn winning 9-8 in overtime in Philadelphia during the regular season before Temple earned a 12-8 win in the BIG EAST Semifinals at Georgetown.

Coaching Staff Connections
Temple head coach Bonnie Rosen, now in her 11th season, spent 10 years as the head coach at UConn from 1997-2006. She was the program's first head coach, and one of her recruits was current Temple associate head coach Jennifer Wong. Wong was a goalkeeper for the Huskies from 2001-05, helping the Huskies to a 2005 ECAC Championships and a top-15 national ranking.

Clinched!
With its 11-10, come-from-behind win at Vanderbilt on April 15, Temple clinched a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament with two games left to play. The Owls were picked to finish fifth of the 10 league teams this season, but have already secured one of the top four spots for a second year in a row. Villanova will serve as the host of the tournament, which will also include #2 Florida, #16 Denver and Georgetown. The semifinals are set for 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 4 (BEDN) with the championship game set for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 6 (FS2).

Winning Ways
It's shaping up to be a record-breaking season for Temple, as the Owls are 13-3 and off to their best start in 20 years. The 1997 team lost its third and final game in the NCAA Semifinals, finishing 14-3 overall. Temple has matched its 13-win total from 2016, which was the most for the program since 2008. The Owls nearly went undefeated at brand-new Howarth Field this season, going 7-1 overall.