2 0 0 1



2 0 0 0



1 9 9 9


 


Temple 8, Delaware 6
May 2, 2001

Temple Spoils Blue Hens' Senior Day

Megan Fortunato Connected for Three Goals for the Hens

NEWARK, DE -- Temple jumped out to a 6-1 lead midway through the second half and held off a late University of Delaware comeback attempt as the Owls downed the host Blue Hens 8-6 in a non-league women's lacrosse game Wednesday at Rullo Stadium.

The game closed out the regular season for both teams. Delaware, which fell to 7-9, will be the No. 2 seed and take on No. 3 Boston University in the America East semifinals this Friday, May 4 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. Hofstra will take on New Hampshire in the other semifinal. The championship game will be held Saturday at 4 p.m. with the winner earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Hens have won three of the last four titles and last year advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1984.

Temple, which defeated the Hens for the first time since 1998, won its sixth straight game and eighth in its last nine outings to improve to 11-5. The Owls will be the top seed in this week's Atlantic 10 Tournament.

The Owls, who had averaged 15 goals per game during its win streak, jumped out to a 4-1 halftime lead as sophomore Patience Synnestvedt scored two goals and assisted on another.

Temple scored the first two goals of the second half to go up 6-1, but the Blue Hens rallied. Senior Katy Hahn (Harborfields/Centerport, NY), junior Corinne Shuck (Broadneck/Annapolis, MD), and senior Megan Fortunato (Upper Moreland/Hatboro, PA) each scored in a span of 4:32 to cut the lead to 6-4 with 10:26 left to play.

The Owls got some breathing room when Robin Keevan scored her second goal of the game two minutes later for a 7-4 lead, but Fortunato, who had three goals on the day to up her team lead to 34, came right back with another UD goal to cut the lead to 7-5 with 6:38 left to play.

After several failed opportunities for the Hens, Temple converted again as Deanna Radcliff scored her second goal of the game with 1:54 left for an 8-5 lead. Delaware's Nikki Kucharski scored just 14 seconds later, but it was too little too late for the Hens.

The game featured outstanding goalkeeping as Temple's Sheena Oommen posted 20 saves and Delaware's Laurie Tortorelli (Haverford/Havertown, PA) turned back 13 shots.

AGATE:

Temple........4........4...........8
Delaware.....1........5...........6

Individual Scoring (Goals-Assists): Temple - Patience Synnestvedt, 2-1; Deanna Radcliff, 2-0; Robin Keevan, 2-0; Tiffany Pulaski, 1-1; Liz Frengs, 1-1; Delaware - Megan Fortunato, 3-1; Katy Hahn, 1-0; Corinne Shuck, 1-0; Nikki Kucharski, 1-0; Ashley Moderacki, 0-1; Katrina Metz, 0-1; Cindy Dudzinski, 0-1

Shots: Delaware - 26, Temple - 30; Saves: Delaware - 13 (Laurie Tortorelli); Temple - 20 (Sheena Oommen); Groundballs: Delaware - 30, Temple - 29; Draw Controls: Delaware - 8, Temple - 8; Caused Turnovers: Delaware - 16, Temple - 19; Attendance: 250

 

- DDD -