Temple Defeats La Salle, 2-1, In Atlantic 10 Action
Friday, October 12, 2012
NCAA FIELD HOCKEY
PHILADELPHIA – Temple scored five minutes into the game and never looked back in handing La Salle a 2-1 Atlantic 10 loss on Friday afternoon at DeVincent Field. Junior Olivia Shoemaker (Telford, Pa. / Souderton) scored the Explorers' only goal while sophomore Lisa Shaffer (Hershey, Pa. / Lower Dauphin) stopped ten shots by the Owls potent offense, which leads the A-10 in goals, assists and points.
TU's Amber Youtz scored her league-best 16th goal of the season in the fifth minute. After taking a pass into the circle she made a nifty move to create space and found the back of the cage to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
The Owls controlled play for the early portion of the first half before La Salle settled in and garnered several corners and a penalty stroke. Unfortunately for the Explorers, the hosts couldn't tie the game up and went into halftime trailing, 1-0.
Temple (9-6, 2-0 A-10) took a two-goal advantage in the 49th minute when Youtz took the ball on a fast break opportunity and found Lauren Hunt, who blasted a shot from near range into the cage.
The Explorers (6-8, 1-1 A-10) did not give up and kept the pressure on, which eventually resulted in Shoemaker's goal with seven minutes to play. Junior Mariel Papa earned the assist. Shoemaker now leads the team in goals with six.
Lizzie Millen stopped seven shots for TU. The Owls held an 18-14 lead in shots while La Salle had an 7-5 advantage in corners.
La Salle visits Saint Joseph's on Sunday in another key Atlantic 10 matchup. Game time is noon.