Amber Youtz's Four Goals Lead #15 Field Hockey to 6-3 Win Over Villanova

Friday, October 10

Geasey Field

3 p.m.

Temple University

(9-4, 2-0)

Villanova

(3-9, 0-2)

Team	1	2	Final F
Villanova	0	3	3
Temple	1	5	6

Amber Youtz scored four goals in the Owls' 6-3 win against Villanova

Photo by: Ken Light

Amber Youtz's Four Goals Lead #15 Field Hockey to 6-3 Win Over Villanova

10.10.14 | Field Hockey

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Senior forward Amber Youtz scored four goals to lead #15 Temple field hockey to a 6-3 win over BIG EAST and city rival Villanova on Friday afternoon at Geasey Field. Three of Youtz's goals came in a five-goal second half for Temple (9-4, 2-0).

It was Play 4 The Cure Day as both Temple and Villanova dedicated the game to the fight against breast cancer. Special guests, relatives of players and coaches who have fought the battle against the disease, were on hand to walk the game ball out, and the teams took a photo together in their pink warm-up t-shirts.

Youtz's season total now stands at 15, while her career total moves to 57. She stands in fourth place all-time at Temple in career goals, and is also fourth with 136 points. The hat trick for Youtz was the sixth of her career and second this season, while her four-goal effort was the second such outing of her career.

"We had a great week of practice, and really worked on cleaning up some things and on our attacking," said Temple head coach Amanda Janney. "To get 30 shots today was amazing...Amber had a great game today and she really stepped up big as a senior leader. It was a huge BIG EAST win for us and I'm very happy with the team."

The game was slow with only a single goal in the first half, and became a different contest in the second. Six goals were scored over a 10-minute span in the second half, with each team recording three of those.

Temple held only a 1-0 lead on the Wildcats (3-9, 0-2) at halftime despite seven shots on goal and 17 total shots for the half. It was Youtz to score that lone first-half goal, and it came on the second penalty corner for Temple in the 15th minute. Nicole Kroener and Paige Gross assisted Youtz, and for Gross it was her first of two assists in the game.

Villanova goalkeeper Jordyn Clipstone made six first-half saves to keep Temple from increasing its lead. Temple keeper Lizzy Millen made just one save in the opening period, but would make three more in her 21 minutes of second-half action. Haley Mitchell made two saves in 14 minutes in the cage for Temple.

Just over four minutes into the second half, Youtz drove into the circle and scored on a reverse stick shot for a 2-0 lead.

The flurry of scoring started 12 minutes into the second half. Villanova's Lauren Wilson started the charge when she got one in off a rebound, but Temple's answered less than a minute later on a corner play. Sarah Deck took a pass from Gross and gave the Owls a 3-1 lead.

Deck was involved in the next goal four minutes later, giving a feed to Alyssa Delp who scored on a long shot from the left side. Temple then went on to take a 5-1 lead in the 55th minute when Youtz completed the hat trick.

The final two goals of the 10-minute scoring span were Villanova's, as the Wildcats cut the margin to two with 13 minutes remaining. Heather Smillie scored the first and assisted on the second.

The pace slowed in the final stretch, but Temple earned its 11th corner of the game with time expiring, and the Owls took advantage. Clapstone made a save for Villanova on the initial corner shot by Temple's Katie Foran, but Youtz was there for the rebound and she put it in for goal number four.

"The team really pulled together on offense," said Youtz. "We had a ton of shots today and a lot of shots on corners, and I think that's a sign of us coming together. I'm really proud of the team today."

Temple will be back in action at home on Sunday at noon with a game against city rival La Salle.

Box Score l Youtz Postgame Interview l Janney Postgame Interview l Photo Gallery