Temple University Athletics
Temple Hands Penn its First Loss, 2-0
9.20.06 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 20, 2006
PHILADELPHIA - Wendy Halina netted a first half goal for the Owls and Kersha Walker added one more in the second period, giving the Temple women's soccer team its second straight victory, a 2-0 win over the visiting Penn Quakers. The Owls improve to 3-5, while the Quakers, previously unbeaten in five matches, earn their first defeat and a 4-1-1 record.
Temple had some quick touches early in the game but could not seem to put the ball in the net. Wendy Halina changed all of that midway through the stanza when she collected a ball from Kersha Walker and fired a left footed shot into the upper right hand corner of the goal. Kelly Lare pushed the ball to Walker who passed to Halina for the tally at 27:12. The Quakers put the pressure on late in the first half and kept firing shots but were not able to penetrate the TU defense and get past its captain, goalie Liz Tarasevich. Tarasevich earned six saves in the match's first 45 minutes.
Penn came out with a renewed aggressiveness in the second half and was able to keep the Owl defense extremely busy and on its heels for most of the period. Charisma Wright was able to break away and get a shot off but it sailed wide of the cage. That seemed to be just the spark that the Owls needed and they began to push the ball up the field and attack. The surge was short-lived however as the Quakers, desperate to preserve their unblemished record, began to put on the pressure once again. Tarasevich came up time and time again however. Temple was able to withstand the fire storm and capitalized on its one breakaway. Wright collected the ball on the Temple 40-yard line and sprinted down the left sideline until she found Kersha Walker waiting in front of the goal. The junior played with the ball for a bit and then blasted it past a diving Cailly Carroll to make it 2-0 with just under five minutes to play.
Tarasevich finished with 14 saves for Temple, while Carroll had no saves for Penn. The Quakers outshot the Owls, 21-3.
Temple next travels to Monmouth for a game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
