PHILADELPHIA, PA. 4/14/2013 – For the first forty-two minutes of the game everything was going the way of the Temple Owls. For LaSalle to come back from an eight goal deficit they would have to call on their experience and resiliency. The Explorers did scoring the last nine goals of the game capping the rally on a free-position goal by sophomore attack Lauren Ignacio with 12 seconds to play to steal a 14 – 13 win at McCarthy Stadium. LaSalle has rallied from large deficits this season, and the team believed they could do it one more time by being positive.
“We came back being down 8 goals before,” said senior midfielder Melanie Sarcinello who led the Explorers with 4 goals in the contest on her senior day. “We knew we could do it. It was senior day. A lot of the girls were fighting for us which was a great feeling. We just wanted it. We haven’t won in a while, and we wanted it.”
The loss snapped a four game losing streak for the host Explorers. It did not appear that would happen as Temple dominated the first half of the game. The Owls led 10 – 3 at halftime. Temple controlled the ball by winning 11 of the 14 draw controls. LaSalle got the first goal of the game unassisted by sophomore midfielder Kelly Furman just over a minute into the game. The Owls responded by scoring the next five goals at the 17:16 mark. The Cherry and White got 4 goals in the half from senior midfielder Charlotte Swavola who led the team in scoring. Senior midfielder Stephany Parcell scored two of her three in the opening half. As the teams prepared for the second half LaSalle readied for their comeback.
“It was a matter of changing our mindset and going back to being the fighting team that we are,” said LaSalle Coach Candace Taglianetti-Bossell.
“At halftime it was us (the coaches) telling them we believe in them and getting them (the players) to elevate their play.”
The Explorers came out in the second half scoring the first goal by Sarcinello. Temple got the next two goals. Later in the half the Owls got their final tally of the game by freshman midfielder Avery Longstaff that was assisted by Swavola to lead 13 – 5 with 18:54 to play. From that point on it was all LaSalle. Sarcinello scored with 12:54 on the clock to bring the Explorers to within 13 – 9 with 12:54 to play.
Over the next nine-plus minutes neither team would score. Furman scored on an assist from Sarcinello at the 3:11 mark to cut the gap to three. Sarcinello tallied the next two goals over the next minute. The Explorers tied it with 1:05 to play as sophomore midfielder Caitlyn Brostrand scored her third goal off a free-position shot.
The Owls had a chance. but Explorer senior goal keeper Maura Malone turned away a free-position shot. LaSalle ran the ball down the field. Ignacio got inside to get a free-position shot opportunity. She converted and LaSalle climbed the mountain to get their first conference win. As exciting as it was for LaSalle, it was a disappointing loss for Temple.
“LaSalle is the type of team that is never out of the game,” said Temple Coach Bonnie Rosen. “Give them credit for staying tough and taking advantage of the opportunities we gave them. We didn’t take care of the ball and got greedy to score goals.”
Malone mad 9 saves in the second half for a game total of 14. Temple committed 8 second half turnovers compared to 5 for LaSalle.
The Explorer seniors will remember their last game on their home field pulling out the game on Senior Day. Sarcinello will remember the day, the game, and how her team played.
“My last game on this field is something I’ll remember forever,” Sarcinello said. “Fighting back from eight goals down, everyone kept their heads up, and no one stopped fighting.”
Senior Day Note: Honored before the game for their four years of service to the program were; Sarcinello, Malone, Lauren McDermott, Jackie Donato, Jackie Roebuck, Ryan Yankovich, and Team Managers Carly Settar and Amanda Salata. This class was the first recruiting class for Coach Taglianetti-Bossell.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
Twitter: @Phillycolsports
Be the first to comment