PHILADELPHIA - The Temple field hockey team dropped a 3-1 decision to Saint Joseph's Saturday afternoon on the Hawks' Finnesey Field in a critical Atlantic 10 Conference game. Despite the loss the Owls earned the fourth and final berth in the A-10 Tournament next week at UMass.The win clinched the third-seed for Saint Joseph's (11-7, 3-3 A-10) while Temple (9-10, 3-3 A-10) will meet top-seed Richmond in the tournament. The Owls made the postseason with the help of La Salle defeating West Chester. The loss eliminated the Rams from the postseason tournament.
Sophomore Lauren Luft tallied two goals to lead the Hawks while fellow sophomore Nicole Antonini recorded three assists in the contest.
The game remained scoreless for most of the first half until Luft opened the scoring in the 31st minute. Junior Katlyn O'Brien added a second Hawks' goal in the 32nd minute to providevSaint Joseph's with a 2-0 lead at intermission.
Temple junior Rachel Barber closed the gap to 2-1 when she scored off a rebound with 23:28 remaining in the game.
Luft added her second goal of the game off a feed from Antonini to seal the win.
TU goalkeeper Erin Conroy had five saves while SJU freshman Rebecca Cunfe posted three saves in the game.
SJU held a slight edge in shots, 19-12, but Temple managed a 9-6 advantage on penalty corners.
The A-10 Tournament starts on Friday (Nov. 4) on the campus of Massachusetts
Temple will meet top-seed Richmond while third-seed Saint Joseph's will meet second-seed and host UMass.
