Temple University Athletics
Photo by: Cody Glenn
A Year of Growth for Temple Women’s Soccer
11.8.21 | Women's Soccer
PHILADELPHIA – In his second season at the helm, and first true season of fall play, Head Coach Nick Bochette and the 2021 Temple women's soccer squad made strides of improvement, seeing many glimpses of greatness in 2021.
After facing an untraditional year in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Owls returned to campus in August with a sense of normalcy, preparing to compete in fall competition for the first time since 2019. In addition to their 17 returners, the Owls welcomed 12 newcomers, including ten freshmen, and two transfer students.
After three weeks of preseason, the Owls were set to open the season against two highly competitive Big Ten opponents, eager for the challenge. The Cherry and White first traveled to College Park, Md., for the season opener, putting up a hard fight against the Terps before dropping, 3-0. With little turnaround time, the Owls geared up for their next match against No. 25 Rutgers but severe storms in Piscataway, N.J. affected field conditions on the day of the match, resulting in a cancelation.
The Owls returned home for a two-game homestand, playing nearly back-to-back on the weekend. Temple welcomed city rival, Penn for the home opener on Friday night, before hosting Binghamton on Sunday afternoon. The Owls fought tirelessly in both matchups, forcing each game into double overtime to record two draws and advance to 0-1-2 on the season.
Goalkeeper Kamryn Stablein earned her first of many weekly honors in 2021 after a standout performance against Penn. Stablein was named AAC Goalkeeper of the Week after grabbing 15 saves in the match, with eight of those saves coming after the 67th minute to preserve the draw.
As the Owls moved forward in nonconference play, they split their time, traveling first to Towson, Md. before returning home for a match against Rider. In the Cherry and White's first match against a CAA team since 2018, the Owls held Towson scoreless until late in the second half, but the Tigers eventually broke the deadlock, netting two late goals to triumph 2-0. With hopes of a win on the horizon, the Owls returned home to host Rider, but faced their third double-overtime match of the season, resulting in a 1-1 draw against the Broncs.
With a 0-2-3 record, the Owls were hungry for a win, traveling to nearby Saint Joseph's for another Philadelphia rivalry. The Owls came out firing on all cylinders, finding contributions form three different players in Milana D'Ambra, Emily Kavanaugh and Hailey Gutowski to take home the 3-0 shutout. Gutowski led the team with one goal and one assist, earning Weekly Honor Roll recognition from the AAC.
After advancing to 1-2-3 on the season, the Cherry and White prepared for their first conference match of the season, traveling to Memphis, Tenn., to take on the Tigers, who would eventually clinch the American Athletic Conference Championship in early November. The Owl defense worked tirelessly, but the Tigers ultimately triumphed, 4-0.
Temple then returned home for a three-game homestand, hosting nearby Drexel followed by conference opponents, Cincinnati, and Tulsa before hitting the road once more for a matchup against East Carolina. With a 1-3-3 (0-1-0 AAC) record, the Owls knew that these next four games would prove to be important in their pursuit of postseason play.
The Cherry and White welcomed Drexel with a dominant performance, posting their second 3-0 shutout of the season. Temple's efforts were spearheaded by Kavanaugh, who netted two goals in the match. With this two-goal performance, Kavanaugh began to separate herself as the team leader, recording eight points on four goals up until this point. With the win over Drexel, Bochette remained unbeaten by any Philadelphia team, going 3-0-1 against all city opponents since his start in 2020.
The Owls looked to carry their momentum into their matchup against Cincinnati but found themselves at a 2-0 deficit by the 47th minute. Despite the Bearcat lead, the Owls continued to exert offensive pressure, eventually finding a spark from the offensive duo of Gutowski and Kavanaugh. The juniors kickstarted the Owl momentum, as Gutowksi sent a cross into Kavanaugh to get the Cherry and White on the board. Lexy Endres, a consistent contributor for the Owls aided in the second Kavanaugh goal just three minutes later, before also recording the game winning assist on a free kick to Carly Steinberg for the 87th minute game-winner.
After the 3-2 come-from-behind win over Cincinnati, Kavanaugh and Stablein received weekly honors from the American Athletic Conference. Kavanaugh was named AAC Offensive Player of the Week for her two-goal showing, only the second Temple women's soccer player to ever receive this honor since the start of the conference in 2013. Stablein joined her on the Weekly Honor Roll after a twelve save showing, including eight in the second half to hold the Bearcats scoreless after the 47th minute.
The Owls took on Tulsa a week later, looking to earn their second conference win of the season but the Golden Hurricane took the early lead, setting the tone for the match to result in the Owls first home loss of the season.
Sitting at 3-4-3 (1-2-0 AAC) on the season, Temple made their way down South to take on East Carolina in a key conference matchup. The Owls had a promising start, taking the lead just 17 minutes into play on yet another Kavanaugh goal but the Pirates rebounded, scoring two unanswered goals in the remainder of play to edge out the Owls, 2-1.
After returning home to train for five days, the Owls traveled to LIU for their last non-conference game of the season, a late addition to the schedule after the cancelation of the Rutgers game in early August. A late second half push by the Owls proved to be just enough to propel the Cherry and White to victory. Gutowski netted the first goal of the match in the 74th minute, followed by an 82nd game winner from Sumaya Togba, her first career goal.
Coming off a win, the Cherry and White headed back home to welcome third-seeded Houston for a tough conference contest. Gutowksi had yet another impressive performance, netting both goals for the Owls to give them the two goal advantage by the 60th minute. The Cougars fought back, finding the back of the net with only four minutes left to play, but it would not be enough to combat Gutowski's two-goal showing, resulting in the 2-1 Owl victory for the biggest win of the season.
After the 2-0 week, Gutowski earned AAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. With this honor, the 2021 women's soccer team is the first team in program history to earn two Offensive Player of the Week honors in a single season. Picking up six points on the week, Gutowski advanced to 13 points on the season with five goals and three assists, second on the team point leaderboard. Stablein and Togba's efforts did not go unnoticed either, as they joined Gutowski with Weekly Honor Roll recognition.
The Owls braced for a tough end to the season, facing three top contenders in the American. Temple hit the road for two-game road trip against No. 16 SMU and UCF before returning home for their last match of the season against top-seeded USF. The Owls put up a hard fight, but ultimately dropped all three games to close out the 2021 season at 5-8-3 (2-6-0 AAC), missing the conference tournament by just five points.
Temple saw two players earn year-end awards from the American Athletic Conference, including a first team and all-rookie selection. Kavanaugh headlined the awards for the Owls on the first team, only the second Temple women's soccer player to ever earn this award since joining the American in 2013. Kavanaugh led the team in points (15), on seven goals and one assist. Alongside Kavanaugh was rookie Moa Andersson, a standout midfielder for the Owls. Andersson worked tirelessly to provide consistency for the Owls over the course of the season, clocking 1,232 minutes on 14 starts and 15 games played.
After facing an untraditional year in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Owls returned to campus in August with a sense of normalcy, preparing to compete in fall competition for the first time since 2019. In addition to their 17 returners, the Owls welcomed 12 newcomers, including ten freshmen, and two transfer students.
After three weeks of preseason, the Owls were set to open the season against two highly competitive Big Ten opponents, eager for the challenge. The Cherry and White first traveled to College Park, Md., for the season opener, putting up a hard fight against the Terps before dropping, 3-0. With little turnaround time, the Owls geared up for their next match against No. 25 Rutgers but severe storms in Piscataway, N.J. affected field conditions on the day of the match, resulting in a cancelation.
The Owls returned home for a two-game homestand, playing nearly back-to-back on the weekend. Temple welcomed city rival, Penn for the home opener on Friday night, before hosting Binghamton on Sunday afternoon. The Owls fought tirelessly in both matchups, forcing each game into double overtime to record two draws and advance to 0-1-2 on the season.
Goalkeeper Kamryn Stablein earned her first of many weekly honors in 2021 after a standout performance against Penn. Stablein was named AAC Goalkeeper of the Week after grabbing 15 saves in the match, with eight of those saves coming after the 67th minute to preserve the draw.
As the Owls moved forward in nonconference play, they split their time, traveling first to Towson, Md. before returning home for a match against Rider. In the Cherry and White's first match against a CAA team since 2018, the Owls held Towson scoreless until late in the second half, but the Tigers eventually broke the deadlock, netting two late goals to triumph 2-0. With hopes of a win on the horizon, the Owls returned home to host Rider, but faced their third double-overtime match of the season, resulting in a 1-1 draw against the Broncs.
With a 0-2-3 record, the Owls were hungry for a win, traveling to nearby Saint Joseph's for another Philadelphia rivalry. The Owls came out firing on all cylinders, finding contributions form three different players in Milana D'Ambra, Emily Kavanaugh and Hailey Gutowski to take home the 3-0 shutout. Gutowski led the team with one goal and one assist, earning Weekly Honor Roll recognition from the AAC.
After advancing to 1-2-3 on the season, the Cherry and White prepared for their first conference match of the season, traveling to Memphis, Tenn., to take on the Tigers, who would eventually clinch the American Athletic Conference Championship in early November. The Owl defense worked tirelessly, but the Tigers ultimately triumphed, 4-0.
Temple then returned home for a three-game homestand, hosting nearby Drexel followed by conference opponents, Cincinnati, and Tulsa before hitting the road once more for a matchup against East Carolina. With a 1-3-3 (0-1-0 AAC) record, the Owls knew that these next four games would prove to be important in their pursuit of postseason play.
The Cherry and White welcomed Drexel with a dominant performance, posting their second 3-0 shutout of the season. Temple's efforts were spearheaded by Kavanaugh, who netted two goals in the match. With this two-goal performance, Kavanaugh began to separate herself as the team leader, recording eight points on four goals up until this point. With the win over Drexel, Bochette remained unbeaten by any Philadelphia team, going 3-0-1 against all city opponents since his start in 2020.
The Owls looked to carry their momentum into their matchup against Cincinnati but found themselves at a 2-0 deficit by the 47th minute. Despite the Bearcat lead, the Owls continued to exert offensive pressure, eventually finding a spark from the offensive duo of Gutowski and Kavanaugh. The juniors kickstarted the Owl momentum, as Gutowksi sent a cross into Kavanaugh to get the Cherry and White on the board. Lexy Endres, a consistent contributor for the Owls aided in the second Kavanaugh goal just three minutes later, before also recording the game winning assist on a free kick to Carly Steinberg for the 87th minute game-winner.
After the 3-2 come-from-behind win over Cincinnati, Kavanaugh and Stablein received weekly honors from the American Athletic Conference. Kavanaugh was named AAC Offensive Player of the Week for her two-goal showing, only the second Temple women's soccer player to ever receive this honor since the start of the conference in 2013. Stablein joined her on the Weekly Honor Roll after a twelve save showing, including eight in the second half to hold the Bearcats scoreless after the 47th minute.
The Owls took on Tulsa a week later, looking to earn their second conference win of the season but the Golden Hurricane took the early lead, setting the tone for the match to result in the Owls first home loss of the season.
Sitting at 3-4-3 (1-2-0 AAC) on the season, Temple made their way down South to take on East Carolina in a key conference matchup. The Owls had a promising start, taking the lead just 17 minutes into play on yet another Kavanaugh goal but the Pirates rebounded, scoring two unanswered goals in the remainder of play to edge out the Owls, 2-1.
After returning home to train for five days, the Owls traveled to LIU for their last non-conference game of the season, a late addition to the schedule after the cancelation of the Rutgers game in early August. A late second half push by the Owls proved to be just enough to propel the Cherry and White to victory. Gutowski netted the first goal of the match in the 74th minute, followed by an 82nd game winner from Sumaya Togba, her first career goal.
Coming off a win, the Cherry and White headed back home to welcome third-seeded Houston for a tough conference contest. Gutowksi had yet another impressive performance, netting both goals for the Owls to give them the two goal advantage by the 60th minute. The Cougars fought back, finding the back of the net with only four minutes left to play, but it would not be enough to combat Gutowski's two-goal showing, resulting in the 2-1 Owl victory for the biggest win of the season.
After the 2-0 week, Gutowski earned AAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. With this honor, the 2021 women's soccer team is the first team in program history to earn two Offensive Player of the Week honors in a single season. Picking up six points on the week, Gutowski advanced to 13 points on the season with five goals and three assists, second on the team point leaderboard. Stablein and Togba's efforts did not go unnoticed either, as they joined Gutowski with Weekly Honor Roll recognition.
The Owls braced for a tough end to the season, facing three top contenders in the American. Temple hit the road for two-game road trip against No. 16 SMU and UCF before returning home for their last match of the season against top-seeded USF. The Owls put up a hard fight, but ultimately dropped all three games to close out the 2021 season at 5-8-3 (2-6-0 AAC), missing the conference tournament by just five points.
Temple saw two players earn year-end awards from the American Athletic Conference, including a first team and all-rookie selection. Kavanaugh headlined the awards for the Owls on the first team, only the second Temple women's soccer player to ever earn this award since joining the American in 2013. Kavanaugh led the team in points (15), on seven goals and one assist. Alongside Kavanaugh was rookie Moa Andersson, a standout midfielder for the Owls. Andersson worked tirelessly to provide consistency for the Owls over the course of the season, clocking 1,232 minutes on 14 starts and 15 games played.
Players Mentioned
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