The Slippery Rock University lacrosse team dropped its last road game of the season to No. 2 West Chester University on Saturday.
With the loss, SRU drops to 4-7 overall and 1-6 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. West Chester improved to 10-1 overall and 7-0 in the PSAC.
Sophomore Paige Costantino scored two goals to lead the Rock. Senior Holly Webb added a goal and assist and junior Lauren Laubach chalked up a goal and grabbed eight draw controls.
The goaltending was a struggle for Slippery Rock, with freshman Hannah Houde taking the loss after allowing 18 goals and recording seven saves. Senior Natalie Crenshaw came in late in the second half, allowing three goals, while getting two saves.
“We need to play with more confidence and realize we are a good team of we play the way we can,” head coach Emily Hopkins said. “Our defensive transition was much improved.”
The Rock has struggled in the PSAC this year, but has done pretty respectable out of the conference with a 3-1 record out of the PSAC.
The dominance of non-division opponents kept up last Thursday, when they played Wheeling Jesuit University, picking up a 19-3 victory in that matchup. The Rock dominated the game finishing 39-3 in total shots, without allowing a shot in the whole first half.
Scoring was plentiful in the game with scoring coming from 10 different Rock players.
Sophomore Jess Verbic led with two goals, four assists, three caused turnovers, and five ground balls. Freshman Anna-Marie Warrington also scored two goals and had three assists. Webb scored three goals and one assist.
Laubach, Costantino, and junior Morgan Pettit each added two goals and one assist apiece. Freshman Kaytlin Callaghan and sophomore Katie Cook also had two goals each. Junior Lacey Allis and freshman Jessica Johnson each had one goal.
Houde started in goal for the first half facing no shots, while freshman Jordan Wagner gave up two goals in the second half, and Crenshaw gave up one.
Coach Hopkins did not have any bad things to say about the Wheeling game, saying the girls played hard for 60 minutes and got a lot of different players in the game.
The Rock still has a chance to clinch a playoff berth, but they will need to win out and hope for some help along the way. All their remaining games are at home and three of the remaining four are PSAC games, which could help with playoff jockeying.
“We are spending a lot of time on basics and we need to play with confidence,” Hopkins said.
