Lacrosse Edges Villanova 12-10 for First BIG EAST Win

Saturday, April 5

Geasey Field

1:00 PM

Temple University

4-7, 1-1BIG EAST

Villanova

6-5, 1-1BIG EAST

Villanova

Temple

Jaymie Tabor

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Lacrosse Edges Villanova 12-10 for First BIG EAST Win

4.5.14 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA - With three of the game's four goals in the final 11 minutes, Temple lacrosse edged out Villanova (6-5, 1-1) by a score of 12-10 for the Owls' first BIG EAST Conference win. Senior Jaymie Tabor led all players with four goals, including two of those final three.

Tabor also tallied an assist for Temple (4-7, 1-1) for five total points. Getting her first hat trick of the season was sophomore Rachel Schwaab, and freshman Morgan Glassford also recorded three total points with two goals and an assist.

Redshirt sophomore Jaqi Kakalecik came up big for Temple in the cage, making a career-high 10 saves including seven in a back-and-forth second half.

"In every way, this game feels great," said head coach Bonnie Rosen after her first BIG EAST victory with the Owls. "It felt good to be playing an upbeat, fast-style offense today, and to beat a very good team in our conference. We scored more goals than we've been scoring, and we reached a lot of our goals as a team that we had set for the day."

Sophomore Nicole Tiernan got things started off on the right foot for Temple with a fast break goal just under two minutes into the contest. Less than two minutes later, Tiernan passed to Schwaab who put it in the net for a 2-0 Temple lead.

After the Wildcats got one back, Tabor answered in the eighth minute. Catching the ball at the top of the circle, she faked left and came around the right-hand side where she took on two defenders before firing a shot into the top left corner.

The 3-1 advantage was short-lived, as Villanova's Hannah Goforth, who had scored her team's first goal, went on to score two more in a 4-0 run that gave VU a 5-3 lead with 11:50 remaining in the first half. The final goal of the run by Kelsey Denihan would prove to be the last of the half for the Wildcats.

Temple went on to close out the half on a 4-0 run of its own, starting when Schwaab rolled the crease and beat a defender on the right-hand side with 11 minutes left. Sophomore Megan Pinkerton kept the run going, splitting defenders and shooting low into the back of the cage to tie the game at 5-5.

With 4:06 remaining in the half, Tabor was able to take advantage of a man-up situation for Temple, and with 2:14 remaining she fed Glassford from behind the cage for a 7-5 lead that stood through the break.

The game saw its third tie less than five minutes into the second half after two Villanova goals, but Temple answered with two of its own from Schwaab and Kelly Syphard for a 9-7 lead.

Meghan Breen scored twice for Villanova in a two-minute stretch to tie the game yet again, 9-9 with 16:00 left, but the Wildcats would score just once more the rest of the way.

Tabor and Glassford both converted on free-position opportunities to make it 11-9 with 8:25 remaining. Denihan and Goforth connected for Villanova's final goal with 5:18 remaining, but Tabor gave the Owls a two-goal cushion with 4:36 left when she cut through the middle and scored.

Villanova controlled the final draw, and also took the only two shots in the remaining time, but both were saved by Kakalecik to preserve the two-goal lead.

In addition to her game-high five points, Tabor led the Owls with four draw controls. Defensively, Megan Tiernan had a strong showing with a game-high three caused turnovers.

The Owls will play two more games at home before hitting the road for the remainder of the season. Next up is a 3:00 p.m. game against #20 Louisville on Friday, April 11.