Field Hockey Travels to Monmouth for ESPN3-Televised Game on Friday

Friday, September 18

West Long Branch, N.J.

3:00 p.m.

Temple University

Monmouth

Photo by: Ken Light

Field Hockey Travels to Monmouth for ESPN3-Televised Game on Friday

9.17.15 | Field Hockey

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple field hockey team's Friday afternoon game at Monmouth on Sept. 18 will be broadcast by ESPN3. The Owls (2-4) and the Hawks (2-4) are set for a 3 p.m. contest in West Long Branch, N.J. On Sunday, Temple returns home to face #12 Northwestern at noon.

Temple is coming off an 0-2 week, losing a high-scoring, 7-4 contest at #18 Delaware and suffering a narrow, 2-1 home loss to city rival Penn. The Owls lost despite having 10 penalty corners to Penn's two, and out-shooting the Quakers 17-6. The Owls faced another city rival earlier that week on Sept. 7, and junior Paige Gross scored on a cross from sophomore Hattie Kuhns with just over two minutes remaining to lift Temple to a 3-2 win over visiting Saint Joseph's. The Hawks had tied the back-and-forth contest just three and a half minutes earlier.

Senior Sarah Deck leads the Owls so far with five goals, followed closely by senior Alyssa Delp with four. Seniors Tricia Light and Rachel Steinman have three assists apiece to lead Temple. The Owls have earned 47 penalty corners to their opponents' 38, and have 95 total shots compared to 79 for their opponents.

Monmouth started the season 2-1 but has since lost three straight, most recently getting shut out 5-0 at Cornell. Two days earlier, the Hawks suffered a 1-0 overtime loss at Lafayette. Freshman forward Teresa Warner leads Monmouth with three goals, while three other players have scored twice. Sophomore Christen Piersanti has played every minute in goal, with 20 saves and 16 goals allowed. Temple holds a slim, 3-2 lead in the all-time series against Monmouth. The Owls won 6-0 in their most recent meeting in 2013, and earned a 3-2 road win in 2012. The Hawks' last win came in 2011 by a score of 2-1 in Philadelphia.

Headlines
• Three of Temple's four losses have been to teams ranked in the Top 10. They scored twice against #3 Maryland but lost 4-2, suffered a 2-0 loss at #7 Penn State and a 7-4 loss at #18 Delaware.
• The Owls are currently set to face a total of eight ranked teams in 2015. Ranked opponents left on the schedule include #12 Northwestern, #19 James Madison, #13 Liberty, #15 Old Dominion and #1 UConn.
• The Owls achieved their most lopsided win in 25 years on Aug. 30, taking down Towson 9-0 in College Park, Md.
• An impressive eight different players scored in the Towson victory, led by senior midfielder Sarah Deck with two goals and an assist. Deck also led the Owls at Delaware, scoring twice.
• Senior goalkeeper Haley Mitchell was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week after her efforts against #3 Maryland and Towson. Mitchell made a career-high eight saves against the Terrapins, and made one save in 63 minutes vs. Towson to preserve the shutout.
• Temple has a first-year head coach in Marybeth Freeman, who spent the past five years as the head coach at Columbia University.
• Temple returned eight of 11 starters from the 2014 season, including second-leading scorer Katie Foran who netted seven goals as a sophomore last year.
• Junior Paige Gross led TU and tied for third in the BIG EAST with 11 assists a season ago.
• The Owls have three team captains for the 2015 season, seniors Sarah Deck (midfielder), Taylor Shronk (defender) and Rachel Steinman (defender).
• Northwestern leads Temple 3-2 all-time, but the teams have not faced each other since the 1999 season. The Wildcats won 2-0 in Philadelphia that year. The Owls' last win in the series was a 1-0 overtime victory in Evanston in 1993. Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs is the sister of Lauren Fuchs, Temple's head coach from 1993 to 2004.

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