The Slippery Rock women’s field hockey clinched its second consecutive playoff berth with a 2-1 win over Mansfield on Wednesday.
The Rock is now 8-8 and are ranked eighth in the nation. With the win over Mansfield and a Mercyhurst loss, they secured a spot in the post-season, no matter how the rest of the regular-season goes.
It was looking like the playoffs were going to elude the Rock when they went on a five-game skid the last three weeks. However, the team pulled it together and has won their last two games over Mansfield and a 3-1 win over Seton Hill in the Corners for Cancer game last Friday.
The two-game winning streak started their must-win game against Seton Hill. The team stepped up after having problems scoring goals in their five-game losing streak. The goals came from Allison Shade, Kelsey Gustafson, and Lindsay Brown. They also had assists from three other teammates giving the Rock six players with points.
Courtney Lee was happy with the Seton Hill game and is excited for the upcoming schedule.
“As a team, we were really happy to earn 11 corners, which means we should be able to collect a lot of money for the Susan G Komen Foundation,” Lee said. “We also played really well and as a team so I’m hoping that propels us forward for the rest of our season. Our goal is to win the next two games and I have the utmost confidence in my team to do that and to have a winning season for the first time in a very long time.”
Coach Swiney was proud of the team’s effort against Seton Hill and said the team has made steps in order to continue their season.
“The team played hard on Friday night and earned 11 corners which was a little above our average per game,” Swiney said. “We established goals for the remainder of the season and are focusing on what we can control moving forward.”
The team kept it rolling with a 2-1 victory on Wednesday with another victory. Goal scoring came from Lindsay Brown and Rebecca Williams, both coming in the first 15 minutes of the game. That was all they needed with Lee putting in a great performance, with a career-high 12 saves.
The game moved the Rock up to No. 8 in the rankings, and gave them an eight-win season for the first time since 1998. The Green and White play at IUP on Sunday, and then starts PSAC tournament play.
