Lacrosse Comes From Behind in Exciting, 10-9 Win at Wagner

Wednesday, March 4

Staten Island, N.Y.

4:00 p.m.

Temple University

5-1

Wagner

2-4

Temple

Wagner

Nicole Tiernan

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Lacrosse Comes From Behind in Exciting, 10-9 Win at Wagner

3.4.15 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

STATEN ISLAND - Down by four goals at halftime, Temple lacrosse exploded for a 6-1 second half and came back to defeat Wagner 10-9 on Wednesday afternoon. The Owls improved to 5-1 behind a career-high five goals from junior Nicole Tiernan, who scored four of those on free position opportunities.

Tiernan scored three of Temple's final four goals, including the one that tied the game at 9-9 with 3:46 remaining. The game-winner was scored less than a minute later by sophomore Rachel Barile on a feed from senior Macie Hauck, and redshirt junior goalkeeper Jaqi Kakalecik made a big save with just over a minute left to preserve the lead.

Barile finished with two goals in the game, while Hauck added a goal to her game-winning assist. Kakalecik tied her season high with seven saves in the win.

Gretchen Fay was the leader for Wagner (2-4) with three goals, while Katie Ferraro made seven saves for the Seahawks.

In addition to her scoring contributions, Tiernan led the Owls with four draw controls while also recording three caused turnovers. As a team, Temple tallied 13 draws to Wagner's seven, with those numbers including a 7-1 advantage by the Owls in the second half.

"The scoring didn't come as easily as we would have liked after our first goal early in the game," said Temple head coach Bonnie Rosen. "We weren't getting the draws and we were getting called for fouls. The field conditions were messy and out stick skills were not as sharp as we're used to. It was challenging to get into rhythm, and we started to make adjustments in the first half, but at halftime we just reminded them to keep it simple. In the end we just had to settle in and play our game."

Rosen credited Tiernan with creating many of her own opportunities with strong play on the defensive end. "She was able to cause turnovers and come back down the other way," said Rosen. "She wanted the ball and took it hard to goal, and they took it hard to her with four or five players but she finished her shot and got fouled (to earn free position shots)."

After scoring the opening goal of the game, Temple quickly found itself down 4-1 after a 4-0 Wagner run in a six-minute stretch. The Owls were only outscored by one the rest of the half, but trailed 8-4 at halftime.

The second half proved to be a whole new game, with Kathryn Skahan setting the tone early. She scored unassisted less than two minutes in, and Barile later scored on a free position to get Temple within a pair.

Wagner got one back with 13:25 remaining, but it would prove to be the Seahawks' only goal of the second half. Tiernan scored the first two of her final three goals on free position chances, and tied the game with an unassisted goal with just under four minutes remaining.

Temple will be back in action on Friday in a 3:00 p.m. game at Iona to conclude its Spring Break trip to New York.

Box Score