Temple University Athletics
Women's Lacrosse Opens 2008 Season With 8-7 Upset of #14 Penn State
2.24.08 | Women's Lacrosse
Feb. 24, 2008
PHILADELPHIA-Sophomore Chelsea Rosiek netted two goals and assisted on two others to lead the Temple women's lacrosse team to an 8-7 upset of #14 Penn State in the Owls season opener on Sunday afternoon. The visiting Nittany Lions were ranked #14 by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA), 15th by Lacrosse Magazine and tied for 11th by Inside Lacrosse Magazine. This is the Cherry and White's first upset of a ranked team since an April 22, 2005 win against #19 Duquesne.
Senior Nicole Caniglia added two goals and an assist, while Brittany Hoffman had two goals. Berkley Summerlin and Janell Myers chipped in with one goal a piece and both Hillary and Whitney Richards dished one assist.
The Nittany Lions were extremely physical from the first whistle and collected three yellow cards and one red card.
Canglia got the scoring started for the Owls, after taking a pass from Hillary Richards just two and a half minutes into the game. Kim Konston tied the score at one four minutes later but the Owls went on a two goal run to take a 3-1 lead with 17 minutes to play in the first half. PSU's Aly Carter gave the visitors their second goal at 13:36 but Temple continued to dominate, going on a 4-1 run to end the half with a 7-3 result. Rosiek tallied one goal and two assists during that stretch.
Penn State came out strong in the second half, especially on defense, and held Temple to just one second half tally. TU was able to hold an 8-4 advantage throughout most of the second half and it wasn't until the final two minutes of the game that the Nittany Lions came to life. Mariel Byan netted back to back goals in the final minute of the game to make it 8-7 with just 39 seconds remaining. Penn State caught the ensuing draw control and raced down the field looking for the equalizer but a costly offensive foul gave the ball back to Temple and allowed the Owls to escape with the upset.
Bridget McMullan had nine saves in goal for Temple, while Jess Boccio stopped eight Owl shots.
Penn State outshot Temple, 24-17, but its 18 turnovers proved to be the difference.
Temple takes to the road for its next few games, competing against California, Oregon, St. Mary's and UC Davis in the East/West Challenge.
