SportsDesk Fall Athlete to Watch: Paige Gross

2015 was a down season for Temple Field Hockey following a Big East Championship game appearance in 2014. The Owls posted a record of 8-13-0 on the season. The team will look for leadership, and productivity heading into the 2016 season; and it will have to look no further than Senior Midfielder Paige Gross.

Gross was a cornerstone of the team in 2015, scoring two goals, including her first career goal against Towson, while also collecting three assists on the season. Gross also scored the game winning goal against Saint Joseph’s on September 7th. She tallied an assist in a pivotal game against Villanova which would send the Owls to the Big East Tournament.

In 2014, Gross led the Owls in assists, finished third in the conference in assists, and 35th in the nation in the same statistic. Gross started 17 of 21 games as a sophomore, including recording multiple assists in games against the University of Massachusetts, Providence, and Villanova.

In her Freshman season, Gross started seven games, and recorded two shots on goal on the season. She was named to either the Temple’s Director’s Honor Roll, or the Temple’s President’s Honor Roll in each of her first three seasons at Temple. Gross is a legal studies major, with a minor in history.

For her career, Gross has started 43 of the 62 games she has played in, recording two goals and 14 assists.

A Bethlehem, PA native, Gross was a four year starter at Liberty High School. She was a two time conference all-star, including first team all-area in her senior season. She helped lead her team to a conference championship in her senior season, and a league runner-up. Gross, a three sport athlete in high school, was a captain of the soccer team in her senior season, while also playing for the basketball team.

Gross will look to lead the Owls to another conference tournament appearance, and a successful 2016 campaign in her senior season.