Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/16/22
From Temple & Villanova Press Releases
Temple defeated city rival Villanova, 12-7 on Wednesday night to remain undefeated (2-0) in 2022. A dominant six-point performance from graduate transfer Quinn Nicolai (Moorestown) propelled the Owls and gave head coach Bonnie Rosen her 200th career victory as a women’s lacrosse head coach.
Recapping the Game
Villanova took its first and only lead just 30 seconds into play as Caroline Curnal (7 draw controls) found the back of the net off a pass from teammate Cara Moreau.
The Owls wasted no time, answering back with four consecutive goals to give the Owls a three-goal cushion.
Graduate transfer Nicolai acted as an offensive spark for the Cherry and White, netting the first three goals of the game on a free position goal and two assisted finishes from Mackenzie Roth (Parkland) and Camryn Zavacky (Suthern Lehigh).
Belle Mastropietro (Springfield-Delco) built off Nicolai’s momentum, scoring the fourth and final goal of the first quarter after converting another Roth assist.
As the second quarter opened, the Wildcats struck first once again, netting two back-to-back goals to close the gap to 4-3.
Roth found a goal of her own just two minutes later off another Zavacky assist while Mastropietro buried her second goal of the game from a Nicolai assist.
With only 10 seconds remaining in the half, Villanova did not break stride, finding the back of the net to enter the half at a 6-4 differential.
The Owls came roaring out of the half. Temple scored four out of the first five goals to take a 10-5 lead. Four different Owls found the back of the net during this stretch, including Nicolai’s fourth goal.
Villanova scored two in a row to end the third quarter and cut into Temple’s lead.
Temple scored the only two goals of the final frame. Nicolai and Lauren Zinkl put the Wildcats to bed as Temple took home the victory, 12-7.Libby McKenna had three goals and two draw controls while Alexa Tsahalis added two goals and two groundballs for Villanova.
Statistically Speaking
Nicolai was a force of nature. The grad transfer scorched the net with five goals and dished out an assist. She also picked up four ground balls.
Katie Shallow spearheaded a fantastic defensive effort for the Owls. She paced all players with five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Mastropietro put up two goals in the first half before leaving the game due to injury.
Roth, Zinkl, Abaigeal Ryan (Princeton), Julie Schickling (Springfield-Delco), and Gabrielle Kirsch (Williamstown-NJ) all scored once.
Roth and Zavacky tied for the game lead with two assists each. Zinkl also passed for one helper.
Quotable
“It was a fantastic win. Villanova is a really really good team that’s really well coached. I was so proud of the way our team came out tonight and battled through all the little things to find a way to put together a complete performance and get the win.” — head coach Bonnie Rosen