Author Archives: connorshowalter

Snow delays Senior Day for women’s soccer

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A ceremony and ensuing game to honor the women’s soccer team’s five seniors before the match up with St. Bonaventure has been post-poned and relocated due to inclement weather. The game originally scheduled to be played at Ambler Sports Complex is about to kickoff at 2 p.m. at LaSalle’s turf field at McCarthy Stadium (20th and Olney Avenue).

Seniors to be honored include forward Niki Conn, defenders Samantha Farlow, Tiia Kuokka, and Amanda Vogelman and forward Becky Bently. The Owls are coming off their first win in four games after defeating Duquesne 1-0 on Friday.

Men’s rowing alumni lead U.S. Men’s Eight to gold

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Three alumni from the men’s rowing team were in action at the 2011 Pan American Games to help the United States Men’s Eight claim a gold medal on Wednesday in Guadalajara, Mexico. The former Owls, Jason Read (’03), Marcus McElhenney (’03), and Joe Spencer (’05), paced the U.S. as the team led the entire way, defeating Canada by nearly two seconds. Read is also in his first year as the Temple women’s rowing coach. (video of race: courtesy deportesus.terra.com)  The medal count at the Pan American Games is currently in favor of the U.S., as it boasts 34 gold and 98 total medals, while Brazil is in second with 14 gold and 42 total medals.  The Pan American Games are held every four years preceding the Olympic Games, as teams prepare for world competition.

 

 

Football practice facility to undergo expansion

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The recommendation for a $9 million Edberg Olson football expansion project, which plans to expand the football practice facility at Diamond and 11th Streets, was approved at the Board of Trustees meeting today.

Edberg-Olson Hall and its complimentary practice field was designed for the football team’s use and dedicated in 2000. Currently, the 23,600-square-foot building contains team and coaches locker rooms, a weight room, a training room, equipment facilities, coach’s offices, observation balcony, a player’s lounge, computer lab, individual position meeting rooms and a theater-style team meeting room.

The funding and financing source is reportedly from the Plant Fund.

Bernard Pierce named to Maxwell Award Watch List

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Courtesy Dylan Buell, Ball State Daily News

Junior running back Bernard Pierce is one of nine players in the country to be added to the Maxwell Award Watch List, which annually honors the College Player of the Year.

Pierce is currently leading the nation with 15 touchdowns and is the Owls’ and Mid-American Conference’s top scorer with 90 points after six games.  The Ardmore native has scored three or more touchdowns in four games this season and set a school record 41 career rushing touchdowns in the Owls’ last game Saturday against Ball State.

The 6-foot, 218-pound ball carrier picked up 121 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the Ball State game, recording more than 100 yards rushing for the fourth time this season and the 13th time in his career.  On the year, Pierce has rushed for 692 yards on 141 attempts.

“The goal is to get the guys who are you’re playmakers to touch the football as many times as you can,” said coach Steve Addazio in a press conference today.

Last year quarterback Cam Newton of Auburn was presented with the 74th Annual Maxwell Football Club’s honor. Newton led the No. 1 Tigers to a 22-19 win against No. 2 Oregon at the 2011 Bowl Series Championship National Championship game and to a 13-0 regular season record.

The voters for the Maxwell College Awards are NCAA Head College Football Coaches, members of the Maxwell Football Club and sportswriters and sportscasters from across the nation.

Women’s lacrosse begins fall ball

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Courtesy Amalia Lekkas

Women’s lacrosse hosted the fifth annual Philly 5 Tournament last Saturday morning at Geasey Field. Among the city schools involved were Villanova, St. Joseph’s, LaSalle, and Drexel. Temple opened with Lasalle where senior midfielder Stephanie Markunas scored a goal to open the morning games for Temple. The event was open to the public and brought many of the players’ families and friends.

The Owls will travel to Cherry Hill, N.J. for the Fall Ball on the Hill Tournament on Oct. 15.

-Max Reil

Club rugby teams kick off season with wins

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The men’s and women’s club rugby teams both picked up wins during the past weekend as their seasons are now underway. 

The men’s team defeated West Chester 30-0 last Saturday with scoring from Brad Volm, John Shine, and John Waldron, who each had a try in the game.  Devin Sugg went 3-3 on penalty kicks and 3-3 on extra points to contribute a total of 15 points.  Zach McLellan and Volm each provided “huge tackles,” said club President Matthew Violette in an email.  “[The tackles] really got the crowd going.”

On the women’s side, the Owls defeated former division I team, Delaware, 12-5 last Saturday.  This year the Blue Hens are in division II with the Owls and coach Owen Jones said he used the game as a benchmark for the season.  Senior Kayleigh Dymond scored both tries for the club and junior Erin Langeheine made one conversion. 

“Junior Kristin Shedaker was the heart and soul of the defense all day long,” Jones said in an email.  “Every single girl impressed and played very well.  It was a great result to start the fall season.”

Both club teams will be back in action this weekend.  The women’s team will travel to Drexel on Saturday for a 1 p.m. start at Vidas Field and the men’s team competes away at Shippensburg on Saturday.

Stewart to start for Owls at QB

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Coach Steve Addazio announced at a press conference today that redshirt-senior quarterback Chester Stewart will make his first start of the season for the team’s Saturday road game against Maryland.

“We’ve got two quality quarterbacks, both played a lot of football for us.  We decided to start Chester Stewart,” Addazio said.  “That doesn’t mean Mike Gerardi won’t play, all playing time is based on how our players perform in the game.  That’s how it is at every position.”

The change in the starting lineup will leave redshirt-junior quarterback Mike Gerardi on the bench, at least for the start of the game.  Gerardi has thrown 30-59 for 423 yards and three touchdowns in his first three starts of the season.

The Owls posted a 2-1 record with Gerardi at center.  Last Saturday in the 14-10 Penn State loss, Gerardi went 9-22 for 95 passing yards and threw two fourth quarter interceptions. Stewart came off the sidelines late in the second quarter, and was used in the Owls’ next five offensive drives before Gerardi spelled him, with the score 10-7 in favor of the Owls, to start the fourth quarter.

Although both Stewart and Gerardi saw significant playing time in the last game, Addazio said he does not expect to run a two-quarterback system.

“It’s not a two-quarterback system in any way, shape, or form,” Addazio said.  “It’s just the simple fact that we have two quarterbacks that have played a lot of football here.  We’re giving the opportunity to one to take it and run with it.”

“A two-quarterback system is usually for when you have two different guys and you’re trying to do two different things,” Addazio added.  “Our intent is to get the right guy in there [who] is going to consistently go.”

Vernalicious arrives on campus

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Vernalicious’ griddled mac & cheese. TTN CONNOR SHOWALTER

A new lunch truck has emerged at 12th and Montgomery Streets called Vernalicious.

Today is the food truck’s second day on campus, according to owner Verna Swerdlow.  Swerdlow, a Philadelphia native, works alongside boyfriend Dave Jurkofsky in the truck.

Their tagline, “Simply Good Food,” hopes to describe the items on its menu, which features home-style griddled mac and cheese and their specialty, lamb.

Be sure to pick up The Temple News next Tuesday, Sept. 27, with the 2011 Lunchies insert to learn more about Vernalicious and other food trucks on campus.

PSU defensive tackles live up to hype

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On Tuesday, Sept. 13 coach Steve Addazio told the media during a press conference that he was impressed by what he saw of the Penn State defensive front on film.

“Their defensive front is one of the best defensive fronts I’ve seen,” Addazio said.  “I look at Devin Still and Jordan Hill and those tackles are outstanding, they’re disruptive, big, athletic.”

“I think they’re a legitimate defense,” Addazio added.

So come game day, it was no surprise to Temple’s coaching staff or redshirt junior quarterback Mike Gerardi that the Nittany Lions’ defensive line made an impact on the game’s outcome. 

Gerardi also stated on Tuesday during the press conference that he thought the tackles had talent.

“Their defensive tackles are pretty good,” Gerardi said.  “You really got to understand that you have to get the ball out of your hands.  You got to understand that they’re going to get pressure on you, only rushing three or four, leaving seven guys in coverage.  So just got to go through progressions and execute and just take what they give you.”

By the end of a 14-10 loss for the Owls yesterday, the running game generated a total of 74 yards, the lowest of the season.  Penn State defensive tackles junior Jordan Hill and senior Devon Still played a factor, as Hill recorded three total tackles and Still posted six tackles with one sack.

Temple vs. Akron resumes after rain delay

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The football team was originally scheduled to play Akron at 6:30 p.m. today at InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field in Akron, Ohio, but a rain delay forced the players and fans to seek shelter with about six minutes of action left in the first quarter.

The game has recently resumed and can be seen on ESPN3.com.   Before stoppage, the game was scoreless, but Akron had the edge in total offensive yardage with 87 yards.  The Zips had a total of 90 offensive yards last week against Ohio State.

Owls’ junior running back Bernard Pierce had three rushes for 13 yards in the quarter before the delay.  The Owls had a total of 6 plays on offense for 23 yards.