Massachusetts: UMass Falls To Temple 10-3 In Atlantic 10 Championship Game
April 27, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - A four goal effort by Britney Hoffman and a six goal first half propelled the Temple Owls to the Atlantic 10 Women's Lacrosse Championship over the UMass Minutewomen on Sunday afternoon at McGuirk Stadium. The win gives Temple (13-5) their first Atlantic 10 title since 2004 and clinches them a spot in the NCAA Tournament. UMass (7-11) received goals from Kelsey Schreiner, Jackie Lyons and Jeannette Villapiano.
The Owls jumped out to an early lead when Hoffman took a pass from Chelsea Rosiek and beat UMass goaltender Krissy Anderson just 4:05 into the first half. Temple continued to maintain possession throughout the first half, limiting the Minutewomen to seven shots on goal. The Owl defense forced UMass into committing 10 turnovers in the first half.
UMass tried to slow down the Temple attack during the first 30 minutes of play, and committed 14 fouls in the process. The Minutewomen were awarded three free position shots during the first half, but Temple netminder Bridget McMullan denied the UMass attempts to cut into the lead. Hoffman added another goal, along with two tallies from Whitney Richards to give Temple a commanding 6-0 lead at halftime.
The Owls continued to pressure in the early stages of the second half, scoring two goals in the first four minutes of the half on goals from Hillary Richards and Nicole Caniglia, both on free position shots. UMass got on the board 19 seconds later when Schreiner scored her 11th goal of the season. Hoffman responded with her third goal of the game with 21:46 to play in regulation, giving the Owls a 9-1 lead.
The Minutewomen tried to claw back into the game with 20:01 to play when Lyons scored her 15th goal of the year. Villapiano followed with a goal of her own nearly two minutes later. Hoffman closed out the scoring with her 25th goal of the season to seal to victory.
Statistically, UMass won the draw control battle 10-5, while also committing a season high 37 fouls to Temple's 11. The Owls went 5-7 on free position shots, while the Minutewomen went 0-3. The teams were even in shots with 18 a piece. McMullan made nine saves in goal for Temple and Anderson made four saves for UMass. Colleen Speth also saw time in goal for UMass, making one save.
