Lacrosse Comes up Just Short in 14-13 Loss at Villanova

Saturday, April 21

Villanova, Pa.

1:00 p.m.

Temple University

9-7, 4-4BIG EAST

Villanova

8-7, 3-5BIG EAST

Temple

Villanova

Lacrosse Comes up Just Short in 14-13 Loss at Villanova

4.21.18 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Three late goals allowed Temple lacrosse to tie the game with two and a half minutes left, but after one more Villanova goal, the Owls (9-7, 4-4) were unable to come up with other equalizer in a 14-13 BIG EAST road loss. The Wildcats (8-7, 3-5) had led by as many as five earlier in the second half.

Keys to the Game
> Temple led by one midway through the first half before a 5-0 Villanova run gave the Wildcats a lead for nearly the entire rest of the game.
> The Wildcats out-shot Temple 30-22, and finished with a 16-13 edge in draw controls. Villanova's draws included the final key draw of the game, and did not allow the Owls to get the ball back until the final seconds.

Individual Highlights
> The Owls lost despite a career performance by leading scorer and sophomore Maddie Gebert, who added two assists to a career-high six goals for a career-high eight total points.
> Freshmen Jackie Cerchio and Bridget Whitaker scored two goals apiece, with senior Kira Gensler and freshman Jen Rodzewich adding one each. Gensler also tallied an assist, as did sophomore Meghan Hoffman.
> Sophomore Kara Nakrasius collected six of the Owls' 13 draw controls, and now ranks fourth all-time in a single season in program history with 62 total draws.
> The Owls got seven saves from sophomore Maryn Lowell in 42 minutes of action, and redshirt sophomore Kelsea Hershey made three in 18 minutes. Hershey came in with 19 minutes left and the Wildcats went nearly 14 minutes before scoring their next goal.

Game Summary
> The Owls had a 3-2 lead just before the midway point of the first half before the Wildcats went on a run.
> Villanova scored five in a row over a 10-minute stretch to lead 7-3 with 5:44 left in the half.
> After forcing four failed clears on the Wildcats, Temple was finally able to take advantage as Gebert scored her second free-position goal with 21 seconds remaining.
> That goal was the last by either team in the opening period, and Villanova led 7-4 at the break.
> Gebert and Villanova traded goals to start the second half before the Wildcats scored two straight for their largest lead of five, 11-6 with 19 minutes left.
> The Owls scored four straight in 11 minutes to cut the deficit to 11-10, but Villanova scored quick goals back-to-back for a 13-10 lead at 4:37.
> Gebert got Temple's final run started with 3:39 left, and Rodzewich scored just 20 seconds later. Gensler fed Cerchio for the game-tying goal with 2:33 remaining, but the Wildcats got the final two draw controls of the game, scoring after the first.

Quotable
> "It was a must-win in our mindset today. We've been in must-wins for a couple games now...This was just a really disappointing game because this opportunity was right there for us."

> "It's really hard after you lose to not think about all the things you could have done better, but there were a lot of positives today. Kelsea came in and helped us create some momentum which was wonderful. We had some young players step up and score some important goals for us down the stretch. Our early turnovers really put us in the hole and I think we're still struggling with the mentality of how to finish out a game when the pressure's on."

> "We would be super excited if a win over Georgetown (next weekend) gave us a chance to be in the tournament at this point. One way or the other we'll be prepping to put our best game on the field against Georgetown and if everything's in our favor and a win gets us into the tournament, we'll be ecstatic. But we can only control what we can control."

- Temple head coach Bonnie Rosen

Up Next
> The Owls will play their last regular season game at home on Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m., hosting #23 Georgetown for Senior Day. Temple must beat Georgetown and get help from other BIG EAST teams in order to earn a conference tournament berth.