Lacrosse Falls in Overtime Heartbreaker to UConn, 9-8

Wednesday, April 13

Geasey Field

3:00 p.m.

Temple University

9-4, 1-2

UConn

10-2, 4-0

UConn

Temple

Senior Brenda McDermott

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Lacrosse Falls in Overtime Heartbreaker to UConn, 9-8

4.13.16 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - After coming back from a three-goal halftime deficit to tie the score three times in regulation, Temple lacrosse suffered a heartbreaking, 9-8 loss to UConn in overtime on Wednesday afternoon at Geasey Field. The Huskies' Alyson Fazio scored her first goal of the game with 1:24 left in overtime to keep UConn (10-2) undefeated in BIG EAST play at 4-0.

Temple falls to 9-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference, but has now lost by just one goal to the teams picked to finish first and second in the league (Florida and UConn).

Senior goalkeeper Jaqi Kakalecik played an outstanding game for the Owls, tying her career high with 13 saves. The Huskies' Shannon Nee also stopped 13 shots, including eight in the first half as UConn held Temple to a single goal.

Seniors Brenda McDermott, Rachel Schwaab and Megan Pinkerton all scored twice for the Owls, with McDermott and Schwaab also recording one assist apiece.

Temple trailed 4-1 at halftime before exploding for seven goals in the second half. "That's who we are," said Temple head coach Bonnie Rosen, speaking to what it says about the team. "That was an important test for us, to see how we could do that. It was just a matter of trusting and settling down, and hopefully that's what we learned today.

"As any competitive athlete does, they move right into 'I could have done better,' but that's one of my jobs as a coach to make sure they know what they're doing well. This has been a team that's bounced back from any adversity we've faced so far this season. I'm really confident that after we're hard on ourselves, we'll get back to work and believe in ourselves again too."

UConn's Alexandra Crofts scored the Huskies' first three goals of the game in the opening 12 minutes, and Grace Nolan added a fourth goal just before the midway point of the half. Pinkerton scored the lone goal for the Owls in that stretch on a free position opportunity just over six minutes in.

The teams battled defensively for the final 16 minutes of the half, and Temple went into halftime down 4-1.

The Owls turned things around quickly in the second half, starting with a free position goal by McDermott in the third minute. Nicole Tiernan scored just over a minute later to pull Temple within one at 4-3.

UConn scored two of the next three, broken up by a Morgan Glassford goal, and the Huskies led 6-4 with 22:26 remaining. In the span of just 18 seconds, McDermott and Pinkerton both scored to tie the game at 6-6 with 21:13 left.

The teams traded goals the rest of the way, with Schwaab scoring both of her goals to tie the game at 7-7 and 8-8 as the Owls were forced to come from behind the entire way. Temple's last goal came with 8:07 remaining in regulation. A free position shot went wide for the Owls with just over a minute left, and UConn had a chance to end the game before overtime. Kakalecik made her third save of the final eight minutes with just 12 seconds left, and Temple's defense held strong to keep UConn scoreless.

The Huskies won both draw controls in overtime, and Temple was never able to gain possession. The Owls thwarted two shots in the first three minutes before the teams switched ends, but UConn gained the second draw and scored on its first shot of the second three minutes.

"Sudden death overtime was a new experience for our team," said Rosen, "and I was really confident we were going to get a chance to win the game. That starts with having to get draw controls, and that was a little bit of a surprise that we didn't come up with draw controls in the end because that's been something we've been able to count on for the most part. But it was a great game and I'm really glad we gave ourselves a chance to win."

In addition to her career-tying 13 saves, Kakalecik caused three turnovers and picked up two ground balls. Seniors Maddie McTigue and Megan Tiernan were both credited with two caused turnovers apiece, and UConn finished with 15 turnovers to Temple's 10.

The Owls will look to get their second conference win on Saturday, April 16 in a 2:35 p.m. (ET) game at Marquette.

Box Score (PDF)