Lacrosse to Face No. 18 UMass in First Round of The NCAA Championships

NEWTON, Mass. – The Temple women's lacrosse team (12-5, 7-3 AAC) is set to square off against No. 18 UMass (15-2, 8-0 A-10) in its first NCAA tournament game since 2008. The match is set to begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 14 at Newton Campus Lacrosse & Soccer Field on the campus of Boston College. The game will stream on ESPN 3.

HOW WE GOT HERE
> The Owls have earned an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998 when they were an independent.
> Temple is having one of its best seasons in recent history. The Owls began the campaign with blowout wins over Delaware and Villanova.
> After a loss to a Drexel team that spent nearly the entire season ranked in the top 25, Temple picked up key wins against No. 11/12 Towson and Atlantic 10 runner-up Saint Joseph's.
> At this point in the season, the Owls were ranked in both the IWCLA coaches' poll (25) and the Inside Lacrosse Media poll (20). It was the first time Temple received poll recognition since 2016. Temple stayed in the IWCLA poll for two weeks and received votes in the Inside Lacrosse poll every week for the remainder of the season.
> The Owls began the AAC schedule with a pair of tough losses to eventual AAC champion Florida. Temple rebounded with two road wins over Old Dominion, including an 18-8 blowout.
> The team then traveled to Cincinnati where it swept the Bearcats in two thrillers. Temple kept the good times rolling with two dominant wins over East Carolina that moved them into second place in the American.
> The Owls ended their regular season with a key road series at Vanderbilt. Temple split the series to finish 7-3 in league play and set them up for a rematch with the Commodores in the AAC semifinals.
> Temple steamrolled Vanderbilt in the AAC tournament before falling to No. 8 Florida in the title game. The wins against Vanderbilt were the final touches in punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament.

SCOUTING TEMPLE
> Midfielder Belle Mastropietro has been a dynamic offensive force. She second on the team in goals with 36 and fourth in assists with 11.
> Attacker Meghan Hoffman set a new single-season assist record against Vanderbilt with a game to spare in the regular season. Hoffman was named First-Team All-AAC. She currently sits at 42 assists on the year. Her 81 career assists are eight shy of the program record of 89.
> Midfielder Bridget Whitaker set her own single-season record in draw controls (79) in the AAC semifinals. The senior has had a phenomenal all-around season. She leads Temple in goals with 41, is second in ground balls (34), and is third in caused turnovers (24). She was a named a unanimous First-Team All-AAC selection.
> Defender Courtney Taylor had one the best seasons in recent Temple lacrosse history. She ranks second in the nation in total ground ball pickups (64) and ranks fourth in caused turnovers (39). She leads the American in both categories. The senior has led the country in defensive EGA (a statistical formula that attempts to rate the value a player brings to the field) with 15.40 for the majority of the year. Taylor was also named a unanimous First-Team All-AAC selection.

LAST TIME OUT: AAC TOURNAMENT
> Temple won the AAC semifinals against Vanderbilt 16-11 but was defeated by No. 7/8 Florida 19-4 in the final.
> The first match saw Temple dominate Vanderbilt. The Owls were up by a large margin for most of the game and they completely controlled the match.
> Mastropietro led Temple with four goals, while Whitaker and midfielder Charessa Crosse both scored hat tricks. The Owls won the draw control battle as they have all season. Whitaker tied her career-high with 10 controls.

SCOUTING UMASS
> UMass went 15-2 (8-0 A-10) to top the league standings and was crowned the A-10 Tournament Champions after defeating Davidson and Saint Joseph's.
> The Minutewomen lead the nation in draw control percentage (66.1 %) and rank second in draw controls per game (19.12) Caitlyn Petro has recorded an astounding 220 draw controls to lead the NCAA.
> UMass has a potent offense, ranking second in scoring offense (18.0) and fourth in scoring margin (8.53) in the NCAA. Kelly Marra's team-leading 47 goals rank 27th in the nation.
> Graduate student Lauren Hiller is a force between the pipes, with her 9.18 GAA coming in at ninth in the nation. She has posted 109 of the team's 207 saves and the Minutewomen have allowed 161 goals this season.

SERIES HISTORY
> Temple and UMass are meeting for the 35th time in series history, with the Owls holding a dominating 24-9-1 advantage.
> This is the first meeting between the teams since 2013, when both were in the A-10, with the Minutewomen defeating Temple 12-10 in Amherst, Mass.
> UMass is on a five-game winning streak, and the last victory for the Cherry and White came in 2008.
> The Owls and Minutewomen have met once before in the NCAA Tournament, with Temple earning a 10-4 victory in the Second Round on its way to being the NCAA Runner-up in 1983.

TEMPLE AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
> Temple has an illustrious history in the NCAA tournament. This will be the Owls 17^th tournament appearance. They ranked 11^th all-time in tournament appearances.
> The Owls last won a tournament game in 1998, when they defeated the Duke Blue Devils 17-10.
> Temple has advanced to ten Final Fours, has been National runners-up four times, and won the National Championship twice (1984, 1988).
> Temple was led by legendary coach Tina Sloan-Green from 1975-1992. During her time on North Broad, Green amassed eight-straight Final Four appearances. She is tied for eighth all-time in tournament winning percentage (.611) with a record of 11-7. Her six semifinal appearances rank sixth all-time.

Lacrosse to Face No. 18 UMass in First Round of The NCAA Championships

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Players Mentioned

Charessa Crosse

Meghan Hoffman

Belle Mastropietro

Courtney Taylor

Bridget Whitaker

Temple University Athletics