PHILADELPHIA--It is the last game on the slate for both teams and over the course of the season, the Penn-Temple match-up took on more and more intrigue.
Penn's seniors, who will be honored in a pre-game ceremony have never lost to Temple, however, there are 11 classes of Quakers to have never beaten their Broad Street rival. Though Penn has won the last four straight games, the series history is sharply slanted towards this year's A-10 champion. Temple holds a 23-9-1 record vs. the Red and Blue.
This season, the Owls are 13-5 and fresh off winning their first Atlantic-10 title since 2004. The win secured Temple's place in the NCAA tournament.
While Temple was winning the A-10, Penn was defeating then-No. 1 Northwestern. After an even first half Penn dominated the ?Cats in the second, outscoring them 6-0. After that performance, the 2008 Ivy Champs took over the No. 1 spot in both the media and coaches polls.
The Owls are led by Whitney Richards (44g, 31a) and Berkeley Summerlin (41g, 19a). Richards dominates nearly every statistical category for Temple. She has 55 ground balls, 40 draw controls and 39 caused turnovers.
As a team, Temple is averaging 11.57 goals per game while allowing 8.77. Penn has scored just over 10 goals per game, on average while limiting its opponents to a stifling 6.29 goals per game; that number leads the nation.
The Quakers are led offensively by Rachel Manson (25g, 14a) and Melissa Lehman (25g, 9a). Sophomores Ali DeLuca and Kaitlyn Lombardo have also be key components for Penn, providing speed and often acrobatic moves. Newcomer Giulia Giordano was recognized this week for her outstanding performance against Northwestern. She scored three goals and two assists and was named the Ivy League Player of the Week, the Inside Lacrosse National Player of the Week and the womenslacrosse.com Rookie of the Week.
In goal, Sarah Waxman was solid against Northwestern's attack. She made seven saves in the game and iced the Wildcats in the second. It was her second shutout half of the season. She stonewalled Yale in the second half, earlier this season.
Game time is set for 1 p.m. and will be preceded by a ceremony honoring this year's senior class. The Class of 2008 includes Allison Ambrozy, Kaitlin Farmer, Tarah Kirnan, Chelsea Kocis, Melissa Lehman, Rachel Manson and Sarah Waxman.
