AMHERST, MA- Corey Leader led all scorers with five goals and Casey Cech added three more, as the Temple women's lacrosse team narrowly edged UMass, 11-10, on Sunday afternoon. Whitney Richards dished three assists on the day as the Owls improve to 8-6 overall and 4-1 in the A-10. Temple moves into a second-place tie with St. Bonaventure in the A-10 standings.
Temple jumped out to an early 4-0 lead as Leader scored twice in the first eight minutes of play. Villapiano stopped the run with an unassisted goal nearly with 19:26 to go in the first half for UMass' first goal of the game. Jeannette Villapiano scored twice more in the first half and Kerri Connerty fired a laser from just outside the eight-meter arc to rally UMass back into the game trailing just 5-4 at halftime.
In the second half, Temple put up the first strike as Allison Frengs to a Richards pass to cage pushing the lead back to 6-4 just a minute after the break. The Minutewomen did not back down with Kathleen Typadis scoring both of her goals consecutively to tie the game and then give UMass a 9-8 lead with 20:54 to play.
The Owls scored three of the final four goals with Frengs, Leader, and Cech each scoring to come back for the win. Temple closed the game running out the final eight minutes of play. After UMass tied the game at 10-10 with 12:39 to play in the game on a Holly Frown free position goal, the Owls were able to slow down their offensive attack. Cech scored her third goal of the game with just under four minutes to go for the game-winner. The Owls controlled the ensuing draw control to run out the final moments of the game for the win. Temple had a decisive edge in draw controls with a 17-to-6 advantage over UMass. With just over 26 seconds remaining, a window opened for UMass as Katie Yori turned the ball over, but a tough pass to the middle of the field was snagged by Jessica Chadwin to regain possession for the Owls.
Temple held a 30-to-22 shot advantage on UMass.
Caitlin Gregory earns the win for Temple allowing 10 goals and making four saves.
Temple returns home to play its final two regular season games next weekend. The Owls take on Saint Bonaventure on Friday at 4 p.m. and Duquesne on Sunday. Sunday will also mark Senior Day for Corey Leader, Nicole Cataldo, Patty Glavin and Dawn Yergey.
