PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team fell to Temple, 11-7, in the 2014 season opener at Geasey Field on Tuesday afternoon. Junior midfielder Julia Falcone tallied two goals to lead six Hawks in scoring while junior midfielder Hannah Hutchins dished out two assists in her first collegiate start.
Tied 5-5 entering the second half, Saint Joseph's fell to a 4-0 Temple run as the Owls opened a 9-5 lead with 15:21 remaining in regulation.
At the 11:18 mark, SJU sophomore attack Bianca Angstadt fought through a relentless Temple defense and was rewarded with a free-position shot, which she converted to bring the Hawks to within three goals.
The Hawks and Owls would then alternate goals in the final 10 minutes, both on free-position opportunities. Temple's Morgan Glassford converted at the 9:34 mark but Saint Joseph's would respond as the Hawks were awarded their own free-position opportunity with 5:29 left to play. Sophomore defender Kelly Phelan faked the shot on the TU defense and dished a pass to rookie attack Nora McCallion, who found the back of the net for her first collegiate goal.
Temple's Glassford would record her third goal of the afternoon with 28 seconds remaining to extend the Owls' lead back to four goals, 11-7, and that score would stand as time expired.
The difference in foul calls played a significant role in scoring opportunities as the Hawks were whistled for 40 fouls in comparison to Temple's 21. The Owls saw 10 free-position opportunities, converting five of them, compared to SJU's four.
In the 10-goal first half, Saint Joseph's did not waste any time getting on the scoreboard as the Hawks struck first just four minutes into play. Taking advantage of a Temple turnover, Hutchins picked up the ground ball and Falcone, who notched her first goal of the season to put SJU up, 1-0, at the 26:52 mark.
Temple would tie it up just three minutes later on a free-position opportunity to even out the score, 1-1, with just under 24 minutes left in the first.
Playing man-down after SJU was hit with a yellow-card penalty, Saint Joseph's senior attack Val Paolucci registered her first goal of the season and 61st of her career to bring the Hawks back up, 2-1, at the 21:31 mark.
Less than 30 seconds later, Temple's Morgan Glassford converted on free-position opportunity to tie the game, 2-2, with 21:06 remaining in the first half.
Down 3-2 after a Temple goal at the 15:49 mark, senior midfielder Michele Granger and sophomore attack Emily Bowers would score back-to-back goals and Falcone would convert on a free-position attempt at the 8:42 mark to put the Hawks back on top, 5-3, with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half.
Temple would score back-to-back goals in the final three minutes to tie the game, 5-5, heading into halftime.
For the game, Falcone led the Hawks with two goals while Hutchins was good for two assists. With her goal at the 9:21 mark of the first half, Bowers extended her point-scoring streak to six consecutive games, dating back to April 7 of last season.
Sophomore Genevieve Giblin (0-1) made seven saves, including six in the first half, in a full-game effort. Giblin also led the squad with five ground balls.
Six new faces saw the field for SJU in McCallion, midfielders Katelyn Ambrose, Christina Costantino, Taylor Dachowski, and Sarah Smith, and defender Maggie Egan. Smith and Hutchins both made their first collegiate starts for SJU.
Temple owned the advantage in shots (27-14), ground balls (25-17), and draw controls (14-6) and was led in scoring by Glassford (3G, 1A), Rachel Schwaab (2G) and Kathryn Skahan (2G).
The Hawks will open their home schedule this Friday, February 21 against LIU-Brooklyn. Start time at Sweeney Field is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
