PHILADELPHIA – The 17th-ranked University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team got punched in the mouth early in Wednesday's game and never recovered, taking a 14-9 loss to Temple in a game that was moved to Franklin Field due to the snowfall earlier in the week.
 
The Owls scored less than a minute into the contest and had a 4-0 lead midway through the first period. Penn was fighting uphill the rest of the way and never got closer than five goals at any point in the second half.
 
Penn falls to 1-2 in early-season play while Temple improves to 6-0
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Catherine Berkery led Penn's offense with three goals, all of them coming in the fourth quarter.
 
*Regan O'Brien finished the day with two goals and an assist for three points.
 
*Olivia Nicoll had a goal and an assist for two points.
 
*Penn's other goal scorers on Wednesday were Lela Greene, Patricia Columbia-Walsh, and Quinny Handley.
 
*Temple was led by Sarah Gowman, who scored five goals, while Lexi Culp had six points (6g/6a) and Amelia Wright scored three times. At the other end, Riley Horosho had 12 saves.
 
How It Happened
Temple got out to a hot start, the Owls scoring on a rebound just 52 seconds in and then making it 2-0 shortly after that on the counter. Sabrina Martin made it 3-0 less than six minutes in, bouncing home a free-position effort, and that forced Penn head coach Karin Brower to take a timeout. The Owls scored again after the stoppage, before Greene finally got the Quakers on the board late in the period when she beat her defender on the right side and finished a lefty shot inside the far post.
 
Penn held the play early in the second quarter but got nothing out of it, then the situation was compounded when the Quakers went down a player on Temple's transition. The Owls immediately capitalized to make it 5-1. Penn got it back quickly when Handley charged down the lane and fired a shot that ricocheted off a Temple defender's stick and over the goalie's head for the freshman's first collegiate goal. TU got the margin back to four just as quickly, again in a player-up situation, when Gowman fired a behind-the-back, underhanded shot past Sedransk. Three minutes later Temple added another, making it 7-2 at the 2Q media timeout.
 
Nicoll made it 7-3 with 4:32 left in the half, ripping it home from the right side into the near upper corner, but again the Owls had an answer. Columbia-Walsh then got it back to 8-4, coming around the right side from behind the goal to slide one inside the near post, and the Quakers got the ball back with a chance to get within three. Instead, a pass to a cutting player in front missed on the connection and Temple picked up the loose ball, ran it the length of the field in less than 10 seconds, and scored with three seconds left on the clock to take a 9-4 lead into the break.
 
TU stayed hot out of the gate in the second half, scoring just 11 seconds into the third, and it took Penn 12 minutes to answer before O'Brien finally scored on a lefty effort from the left side. The Owls got the margin back to six with 1:35 left in the period and took the 11-5 lead into the final 15.
 
Penn started the fourth quarter down a player but O'Brien was unfazed, firing home a lefty effort from up top just 17 seconds in. However, a killer sequence came a little more than two minutes later: Penn gained possession, lost it on the clear, and with just one second left on the shot clock the Quakers left Wright all alone in front of the goal; she scored on an easy feed and score. Emboldened by the turn of events, the Owls won the ensuing draw and scored again just nine seconds later to make the score 13-6.
 
Berkery scored late in the shot clock with 10:25 left overall, taking a feed in front from Eden Welch and spinning into her finish, then added a second a minute later off a feed from O'Brien. That made the score 13-8 and forced a Temple timeout. That settled things down, and the Owls re-established themselves with a goal a little more than three minutes later. Berkery added one late in the game, curling off a screen in front and finishing a Mae Zaremba feed for the hat trick, but it wasn't nearly enough.
 
Up Next
Penn is at home for the fourth time already this season on Saturday, hosting No. 13 Loyola Maryland. First draw against the Greyhounds is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
For the latest on Penn women's lacrosse, follow @PennWomensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.