Field Hockey's Scoreless Stalemate Broken Late by No. 1 UConn

Friday, September 22

Howarth Field

6:00 p.m.

Temple University

(2-6, 0-2)

UConn

(8-0, 2-0)

UConn

Temple

Photo by: Terri Batze

Field Hockey's Scoreless Stalemate Broken Late by No. 1 UConn

9.22.17 | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA - Temple field hockey kept the top-ranked team in the country scoreless for 52 minutes in an impressive display by the defense, but ultimately the Owls (2-6, 0-2) fell 4-1 to visiting #1 UConn (8-0, 2-0) on Friday evening at Howarth Field.

Keys to the Game
> Temple's lockdown efforts in the backfield paid dividends for much of the game, keeping UConn from getting on the scoreboard for the entire first half and for the first 17 minutes of the second half.
> The Owls turned away the Huskies on five penalty corners and 11 shots in the first half, with Temple junior goalkeeper Chloe Johnson making four first-half saves.
> Temple registered zero shots in the opening period, but had one scoring chance on a thru ball to redshirt senior Sarah Keer that just missed the mark.
> UConn's Barbara van den Hoogen scored on a direct penalty corner to break the scoreless tie with 17:50 remaining in the game.
> After the Huskies took a 2-0 lead four minutes later in the 57th minute, Temple answered with the first career goal for freshman Mia Sexton in the 59th minute off an assist from junior Jessika Daniels.
> UConn added two insurance goals in the final 10 minutes, the second coming on one of 10 second-half penalty corner opportunities.

Game Notes
> UConn took a total of 25 shots, but just 12 on goal.
> Johnson finished with seven saves, while sophomore Kathryn Edgar came up with a defensive save on the Huskies' final penalty corner of the game.
> Edgar took a strong second shot on goal for Temple in the final minutes, but it was saved by UConn's Nina Klein.
> UConn had not allowed a goal in three of its eight games this season, including two against Top 15 opponents Northwestern and Stanford.
> Only #11 Michigan, #13 Stanford and #18 Harvard have allowed four or fewer goals by UConn so far this season.
> The Owls' defense was anchored by junior Nellie Doyle, who left the game twice after hits to the face and returned to action both times.

Quotable
> "There's no doubt that UConn is a talented team and they play with a lot of finesse," said Temple head coach Marybeth Freeman, "but we are the complete opposite of that which I absolutely love. I love that we're gritty and scrappy and we find a way to get it done. It might not be pretty, but we'll still feel equally good about it at the end of the day. That, to me, is what we were able to show today. That is Temple tough. To hold a team like UConn scoreless for that long - that's character. That is us believing that we can...I'm just incredibly proud of the overall team connection that our team played with. We got scored on, but we made them earn it. There weren't any free goals. That team mentality is going to take us far this season I think."

> "It's a loss, I understand that, no one likes losing," said Freeman. "But when you compete like the way were able to today, you can take some good things from that."

Up Next
> Temple will be back at home on Sunday, Sept. 24, facing Sacred Heart at 1 p.m.