Temple University Athletics
Women's Lacrosse Falls, 15-7, To #6 Princeton In Final Home Game
4.23.08 | Women's Lacrosse
April 23, 2008
PHILADELPHIA- The Temple women's lacrosse team gave sixth-ranked Princeton everything it had but it was not enough to withstand an 11 goal second-half outburst and a stifling Tiger defense as the Owls fell 15-7 in their final home game of the 2008 season. Senior Hillary Richards led the Cherry and White with three goals, including two in the final 27 seconds of the contest, as Temple drops to 11-5 on the season. The Tigers improve to 11-2 overall.
Berkley Summerlin and Chelsea Rosiek each had a goal and an assist, while Whitney Richard dished one assist. Brittany Hoffman and Janell Myers chipped in with one goal a piece. Tracy Zimmer and Lindsey McMullen did admirable jobs on defense, with Zimmer scooping up four groundballs. Though McMullen had just one groundball, her tenacious defense prevented numerous Tiger scoring opportunities.
The first half was tight, with both teams clamping down on defense. Princeton struck first five minutes into the contest but Myers tied the game at one after taking a pass from Summerlin at 17:20. Summerlin gave Temple its first and only lead with a free position goal at 9:19 but the Tigers rattled off three goals in the next five minutes to take a 4-2 lead with 4:26 to go. Hoffman found the back of the net with three minutes remaining to make it a 4-3 game at the break.
The second half was quite a different story, as the Owls struggled to cope with Princeton's swarming defense. Christine Casaceli netted two straight to make it 6-3 with 22 minutes remaining but Rosiek's free position shot got Temple's within two goals just a minute and a half later. That would be the last goal that Temple would see for over 17 minutes, as the Tigers went on an eight-goal run to take a 14-4 lead with seven minutes to play. Summerlin picked up her second yellow card two goals into the run, forcing her to sit out the remainder of the game and leaving a huge gap in the TU midfield. Richards finally ended the Princeton barrage with a goal at 3:42 but the Tigers answered just 30 seconds later to preserve the 10-goal differential. Richards refused to quit and netted two goals in the final 27 seconds for the 15-7 result.
Bridget McMullan had nine saves as TU's starting goalie. Princeton's Kaitlyn Perrelle stopped seven Temple shots.
The Owls travel to the Atlantic 10 Tournament this weekend in search of an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Temple takes on Duquesne on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
