PHILADELPHIA – The No. 13 University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team used a strong second half—bolstered by a quick start in the fourth quarter—to beat Temple Wednesday afternoon, 11-6, in a renewal of a city rivalry that had been dormant since 2010.
Playing its first road game of 2024, Penn remains unbeaten on the young season at 3-0, while the Owls dropped their second straight against an Ivy League opponent and moved to 4-2.
Quaker Notemeal
*For the third time in as many games this season, Penn scored 11 goals.
*Penn extended its win streak over Temple to seven games, although this was the first meeting between the Quakers and the Owls since 2010.
*Junior
Keeley Block scored three goals to lead the Quakers offensively, her first hat trick since she had four goals at Dartmouth back on April 23, 2022. (Block missed last season due to injury.)
*Senior
Niki Miles had another standout performance, totaling a team-high four points (2g/2a) and a game-high six draw controls.
*Freshman
Catherine Berkery also scored twice on two shots, her second straight multi-goal game of the season. She also had three ground balls.
*Junior
Anna Brandt scored once and came up with four draw controls on Wednesday.
*Penn's other goal scorers were senior
Maria Themelis, junior
Gracie Smith, and sophomore
Carli Fleisher. In all three cases it was their first goal of the season. Fleisher also had an assist, as did senior
Kaitlyn Cumiskey (who also added two DCs).
*At the other end, senior goalie
Kelly Van Hoesen—the reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week—had nine saves and two caused turnovers.
*Senior
Aly Feeley and junior
Natasha Gorriaran also had two caused turnovers, and the junior led Penn's field players with four ground balls.
How It Happened
Offense was hard to come by throughout the first half of Wednesday's game. It took nine minutes for either time to light up the scoreboard, Smith converting a free-position shot. Just 1:22 later, Miles busted straight down the gut for her first of the day.
Temple finally got on the board with 3:43 left in the first, Hannah Schrader converting a free-position chance, but the Quakers got an extra-player opportunity and went back up by two in the closing seconds of the period as Berkery converted a feed from Cumiskey.
The Owls got back within one 1:15 into the second quarter, Amelia White finishing a feed from Belle Mastropietro. The teams then went more than 10 minutes without a goal before Berkery ended the drought as she came around from behind to finish a low-angle shot.
Carli Fleisher had the assist.
Mastropietro opened the second-half scoring, charging down the right side and pushing a shot past Van Hoesen's right side to make it 4-3 less than two minutes in, but Brandt answered with a free-position goal in another extra-player opportunity. Several minutes later, Themelis once again doubled up the Owls as she took a pass out top, weaved through some defensive traffic, and bounced home a goal. Penn's lead was three after three, 6-3.
Penn went to work quickly in the final quarter. Block got a free-position opportunity just 25 seconds in and put her shot over the goalie's left shoulder, and then a minute later Miles found a wide-open Fleisher in front of the goal for a transition tally that made the score 8-3.
Temple got one back a little more than a minute later on a free-position goal, but Penn responded with a pair of goals just 48 seconds apart as Block netted her second of the day and then Miles skirted some traffic to make it 10-4. Two minutes later, Block completed her hat trick with a free-position tally.
Temple score a few goals late, but Penn had little to sweat down the stretch in remaining unbeaten.
Up Next
The Quakers are back at home on Saturday, hosting Columbia in the Ivy League opener for both teams. Opening draw is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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