In a game that had all the tension, speed and excitement that any fan could want, Lafayette couldn’t quite pull this one out. This was a game of two teams looking for their first win. Temple came into the game at 0-4 and Lafayette at 0-3 but one would have thought this was a game between undefeated teams. It was a hard played with lot’s of speed and skill, as the Leopard’s performed with a loose, but aggressive style not seen this year. For their efforts, Lafayette outshot the Owls 18-10, shots on goal were 10-8, and they out cornered Temple 9-5. However, in the stat that matters ,Lafayette again could not convert opportunities into goals and lost 3-2.
Temple opened the scoring at 11:17 into the game, with a bouncing shot that went over goalkeeper Sara Park’s head into the goal. The Leopard’s did not give up, and controlled the field getting multiple corners, the last occurred with no time left on the clock. Sophomore Grace Angelella made a beautiful deflection off of an Audrey Sawer shot stopped by Liza Welch after the insertion by Ana Steps. The score was knotted at 1 apiece going into the half.
It only took 2 1\2 minutes into the second half to get a go ahead goal off a beautiful penalty stroke shot by Ana Steps, beating the Owl goalie. It was to be the last score by the Leopards, as Temple tied it a 53:26 on a cross and shot to the right side and went ahead with the winning goal at 62:26 during a corner and deflection to the right side.
The Leopards had several last chances with a number of back to back corners, with the last starting with no time left on the clock. The Leopards could not convert allowing the Temple Owls to escape with a 3-2 win.
There were several spectacular plays on offense and defense, one most memorable was a Rachael Bird stop, thwarting a two on one break with the Leopard goalie caught in an awkward position. Lisa van der Geest had several long passes that got the offense going with Audrey Sawer showing her skills offensively and defensively all over the field.
For this game I saw several difference makers but Lisa van der Geest, Rachel Bird and Audrey Sawers stood out. Ana Steps stood out to me as well as she showed great determination. I am always impressed with the hustle of Grace Angelella who not only scored but was seen chasing down numerous balls along the sideline.
I thought the Leopards deserved this one, but the game is, who scores the most goals. This team is getting better and you can’t keep that talent down for long. Maine is next before the first Patriot League game with Lehigh next week, and given how this team can play I like us alot in that game. But first Maine.
This contest was played in front of 725 fans and was well populated by both sides which added to the excitement. This may have been a record home crowd.
Lafayette College Field Hockey 