Box Score March 18, 2018
BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA- The Denver Pioneers (4-3, 0-1 BIG EAST) fought back against the Temple Owls (6-3, 1-0 BIG EAST) several times on Sunday afternoon at Howarth Field, but ultimately fell by a score of 10-9 in the BIG EAST opener.
It was a back-and-forth battle early on in the game, with the Crimson and Gold keeping it to a one-goal game in the first half and answering every time the Owls took a lead, resulting in a 4-4 stalemate at the break.
In the second half, Temple opened up the lead to three with three-straight goals and although Denver was able to cut it to a one-goal margin on three separate occasions, the Pioneers couldn't tally the tying goal before time expired.
Denver had the statistical advantage in the contest in shots (38-22), draw controls (15-6) and were 16-17 on clears, while going three-for-five on free-position shots.
Quintin Hoch-Bullen led the visitors in scoring with three goals, while Kendra Lanuza had a team-high four assists and four points. DU only had six caused turnovers in the game with one apiece from Elizabeth Behrins, Riley Eggeman, Audrey Schreck, Katherine Fischer, Hoch-Bullen and Eliza Radochonski. Seven different players (Fischer, Caroline Lewis, Schreck, Lanuza, Hoch-Bullen, Caroline Wiseman and Hannah Liddy) were credited with two ground balls and Maddie Baum recorded seven draw controls in the loss.
Senior Katy Miele made her first career start in goal, recording eight saves and one ground ball for the Pioneers.
From the opening draw, the Pioneers had plenty of opportunities that they couldn't capitalize on, partly due to the Temple goalkeeper, Maryn Lowell, who recorded 12 saves on Denver's 21 shots on goal, and partly due to the crossbar.
The Pioneers won the opening draw and had four shots on their first possession but were unable to put the ball in the net after two attempts hit the crossbar. DU ended up having three shots hit the crossbar in the game.
On the other end, the defense started the game strong, not giving the Owls much to work with and forced two-straight shot clock violations to open the game.
Goals were hard to come by in the half, however, Temple opened the scoring with a goal at the 21:20 mark.
Behrins scored the equalizer at 18:59 on a Lanuza feed, Behrins' 11th goal and Lanuza's six assist of the year.
The Owls' second goal came off of a free-position attempt that was saved by Miele and deflected to a Temple player who found the back of the net at 15:40.
DU responded 2:40 later on a man-down goal by Julia Feiss off of a Lanuza assist and took the 3-2 lead with 10:21 remaining in the half on a top shelf goal by Behrins ( Lanuza earned the assist).
Temple tied the game with 8:07 left in the half and regained the lead at 4-3 on a man-up, free-position goal with 4:58 showing on the board.
After five unsuccessful shots on goal by DU, Radochonski tied the game off of a perfect pass up the field by Molly Little with just two seconds left in the half.
In the first half, the Pioneers held a 20-11 shots advantage, won eight of nine draw controls and were a perfect 10-for-10 on clears, with four saves from Miele.
Temple scored the first three goals of the second half, breaking open a game that until that point had four ties and hadn't deviated from a one-goal advantage by either team.
The Owls regained the lead almost seven minutes after play resumed on a free-position goal (23:22), and added another free-position goal exactly six minutes later (17:22). The Owls finished the game 6-10 on free-position shots. The deficit grew to three at 14:44 on back-to-back goals by Olivia Thompson, who was one of three players to record two goals in the game.
Freshman Hoch-Bullen ended the streak by the Owls with an unassisted goal at 13:12, her ninth of the year.
TU answered the Hoch-Bullen goal with a free-position goal at 11:44, but Denver had the quick response on its next possession with a goal by Eggeman on a Lanuza assist with 10:24 left. The Pioneers cut the lead to one with 9:01 remaining in the game on a free-position goal by Hoch-Bullen, her second goal of the contest.
After the Owls pushed the lead back to two, Hoch-Bullen netted her third goal of the game with 3:34 remaining with her second free-position goal. It was the second hat trick for the Severn, Ontario, native in as many games.
On the next series, Eggeman caused a turnover, which led to a Feiss shot attempt that was saved, and DU was unable to get the tying goal before Temple added a free-position goal at the 1:12 mark.
Wiseman gained possession for the Pioneers on the next draw, resulting in Feiss scoring her second goal of the game, and her 20th on the season, with 31 seconds remaining on a free-position attempt to keep the Pioneers' hope for a comeback alive.
Little won the proceeding draw control and Radochonski was able to get a good look at the goal with 20 seconds to go, but the Owls' keeper was able to get a piece of it and the Pioneers couldn't regain possession to get another shot attempt before time ran out.
UP NEXT: The Pioneers return to the East Coast next weekend to take on the UConn Huskies Saturday, March 24 at 10 a.m. MT. The next Denver home game is Thursday, March 29 against Colorado, set for 7 p.m.
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