PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania field hockey team found itself on the winning side for the first time in 2022. The Red and Blue used a pair of fourth quarter goals to shutout #24 Temple, 2-0.

Quaker Notemeal
*Senior captain Meghan Ward recorded her second goal of the season and had the assist on sophomore Courtney Kenah's third goal of the season. Allison Kuzyk and Elita Van Staden were credited with assists on Ward's game-winner. 
 
*Temple led Penn in nearly every stat category except in total goals. Penn was outshot the Owls, 9-8, with each team having four on target. Seven of Penn's eight shots came in the fourth quarter.
 
*The penalty corners heavily favored the Owls as they had six of their seven in the first half including five in the first quarter. All three of Penn's corners came in the fourth quarter.
 
*Seniors Van Staden and Julia Russo led the team with two shots each. Russo had one shot on goal, while both of Van Staden's shots were off target.
 
*Sophomore Frederique Wollaert tended the cage for the full 60 minutes, making four saves, including three in the first quarter.
 
*Penn has now faced six nationally ranked opponents across their first eight games. The Red and Blue's win over #24 Temple was the first victory over a nationally ranked team in nearly five years. Penn opened the 2018 season with a 1-0 double-overtime victory over then-#14 Wake Forest.
 
*Penn and Temple were scoreless through the first 45 minutes. The last time Penn and its opponent were scoreless through 45 minutes was a 2019 1-0 loss to Lafayette (Oct. 27) at Ellen Vagelos Field.
 
How It Happened
Both teams displayed stout defense through the opening three quarters, with more than half of the game's 17 total shots coming in the fourth quarter alone.

Penn held tough in the first quarter, surviving five Temple shots and five penalty corners, with Wollaert stopping three Owl opportunities. The Quakers managed their first shot in the second quarter off the stick of Kuzyk, but her attempt was stopped by the Temple goalie.

The defensive intensity picked up significantly to open the second half, with the teams combining for three cards, no penalty corners and no shots in the third quarter.

Finally, just 25 seconds into the final frame, Ward broke the scoreless deadlock with a goal right on the doorstep of the Temple cage.

Off a penalty corner with less than five minutes to go with Penn still holding the one-goal edge, Kenah, the inserter on the play, found space near the cage to knock in a loose ball after Van Staden's shot attempt was blocked right to her.

Kenah's goal was the final shot attempt of the game for either side, as the Quakers closed out the shutout.
 
Up Next
The Quakers return to Ivy League action on Friday hosting Harvard. Start time is set for 3 p.m. at Ellen Vagelos Field.