Lacrosse Travels to #7 Florida for Noon Game on Wednesday

Wednesday, April 4

Gainesville, Fla.

12:00 p.m.

Temple University

Florida

Lacrosse Travels to #7 Florida for Noon Game on Wednesday

4.3.18 | Women's Lacrosse

Watch Live Live Stats Game Notes

PHILADELPHIA - The second straight road game for Temple lacrosse takes the Owls (7-4, 2-1) to #7 Florida for a noon contest on Wednesday, April 4. The Gators (8-3, 3-0) have won three straight BIG EAST Conference titles, and have not dropped a league game since 2015.

Scouting Temple
> Temple had a four-game win streak snapped at Marquette on March 31 as the Owls suffered their first BIG EAST Conference loss, 16-4 against the Golden Eagles.
> The Owls had played five in a row at home, going 4-1, prior to traveling to Marquette. They will now play their second road game in a row, and will alternate home and away games for the remainder of the season.
> Each of Temple's two BIG EAST wins have been one-goal decisions. The Owls upset #22/16 Denver 10-9 on March 18, and followed it up with a 9-8 double overtime win vs. Cincinnati on March 24. Sophomore midfielder Maddie Gebert scored two goals including the clutch game-winner just over one minute into the second overtime period.
> Sophomore goalkeeper Maryn Lowell made her 12th save vs. Denver with 20 seconds left to keep Temple in the lead, and made eight more saves in the Cincinnati win including one in the first overtime. Lowell was named the IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week after the Owls' win vs. La Salle and Denver, and was also named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks.
> Lowell's 103 saves rank 22nd among all players in NCAA Division I, while her 9.36 saves per game rank 28th.
> The sophomore class is leading the way for Temple this season all over the field. Gebert has scored a team-best 20 goals, while sophomore Olivia Thompson has 16 goals and five assists. Sophomore and team tri-captain Kara Nakrasius has a team-best 42 draw controls.
> The defense has gotten a huge boost from senior tri-captain Nicole Latgis with a team-best and BIG EAST-best 24 caused turnovers (11th in NCAA DI with 2.40 per game) and team-best 31 ground balls along with 28 draw controls.
> Two of Temple's four losses have come against teams ranked in the IWLCA Top 10 - #9 Princeton and #7 James Madison.

Scouting Florida
> The Gators are 8-3 overall and 3-0 in the BIG EAST, most recently taking down UConn by a score of 21-8 on March 31.
> Florida's losses have been to #1 Maryland (16-14), #8 Syracuse (17-15) and #14 Towson (14-11). The seventh-ranked Gators also boast wins over #17 Colorado, #23 Loyola, #3 North Carolina and #10 Navy.
> Florida won its third straight BIG EAST title in 2017, going a perfect 9-0. The Gators were upset in their first NCAA Tournament game by USC.
> Leading Florida this season is senior Shayna Pirreca with 35 goals and 11 assists.
> There are five Gators with 20 or more points already in 2018, including Pirreca's sister Sydney (a junior) with 26 goals and 10 assists.
> Goalkeeper Haley Hicklen ranks sixth in the nation in saves with 116 (10.55 saves per game).

All-Time Series
> Florida leads the all-time series 7-0 against Temple, and beat the Owls twice last season, winning 15-5 on April 22 in Philadelphia and 21-9 in the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals at Villanova on May 4.
> Temple had its best-ever outing against the Gators in the first of two meetings in 2016, losing just 10-9 in Gainesville on April 2. Temple never trailed by more than two, but was unable to score the equalizer it needed in the final four minutes.