The Temple Owls won their first, last, and only shootout of the season against the interconference Rutgers Ice Knights Saturday at The Rink at Old York Road, and they clinched the final playoff spot in the ECHA due to the Towson Tigers’ 6-0 loss against the Villanova Icecats.

Owls forward Will Green started the scoring for Temple 7:27 into the first period against Rutgers. Ben Auerbach stood strong with a handful of solid saves in the final five minutes.

Auerbach made 57 saves on 59 shots. Christopher Fiorillo stopped 38 of 40 attempts.

Box Score

Griffin Privitera scored while short-handed and Jake Goldstein scored in the second period for the Ice Knights to put Rutgers up, 2-1, headed into the third period.

Andrew Kaeser added to the short-handed scoring with his 10th goal of the season halfway through the third to tie the game at two.

Temple went 0-for-3 and Rutgers went 0-for-2 on the man-advantage.

The Owls had a power play opportunity at the end of regulation but did not score, and the game headed to overtime.

Forward Charles Ghiazza played all five minutes of the scoreless overtime.

Temple elected to shoot last in the shootout. Rutgers only scored once in five rounds, while both Ondick and Ghiazza got past Fiorillo.

As soon as Auerbach stopped the Ice Knights’ fifth shooter, the Owls came over the boards to celebrate the shootout win.

The team ends its regular season with a 10-21-1-0 overall record and a 6-10-0-0 ECHA record.

Following the Owls’ 8-1 loss to the Icecats on Friday, a playoff berth was out of their hands. If the Tigers won both games in regulation against the Penn State Berks Blue Lions Saturday and Icecats Sunday, Towson would make the playoffs and Temple would be eliminated.

Towson beat Penn State Berks Saturday afternoon by a final score of 6-4 despite trailing by two late in the third period, meaning the fate of the Owls’ playoff berth came down to one game in which they weren’t even a part.

Villanova never let up in its 6-0 defeat of the Tigers in Towson, clinching a playoff spot for their rivals in the Owls.

Temple will face either the Navy Midshipmen or William Paterson Pioneers at 5:15 p.m. on Feb. 22 at Ice Line in West Chester, PA in the first round of the ECHA playoffs.

Upcoming Games
Fri., Feb. 22 at 5:15 p.m. at Ice Line (Playoffs) - Owls vs. 3rd Seed (TUICE Network)

Leaders
Points: Charles Ghiazza - 45
Goals: Charles Ghiazza - 30
Assists: Ryan Trefz - 21
PPG: Charles Ghiazza - 9
PIM: Shawn Fowler - 61

Standings
1. 43 points - *Drexel (16gp, 14-1-0-1)
2. 40 points - *West Chester (16gp, 14-2-0-0)
3. 32 points - *Navy (16gp, 10-4-2-0)
4. 30 points - *William Paterson (15gp, 11-3-0-1)
5. 20 points - *Villanova (15gp, 7-8-0-0)
6. 16 points - *Temple (16gp, 6-10-0-0)
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7. 15 points - Towson (16gp, 5-10-1-0)
8. 8 points - Lehigh (14gp, 2-10-2-0)
9. 6 points - Penn State Berks (16gp, 2-14-0-0)
* Clinched Playoffs

Photo: Justin Oakes