The Slippery Rock women’s soccer team fell 2-1 to Gannon University Wednesday night.
Heading into the game, SRU was ranked 11th and the Golden Knights were ranked 25th.
Last season, the Golden Knights held the 24th place national ranking and also downed the unranked Green and White by a score of 2-1.
The loss ended a four-game winning streak for Slippery Rock and is their first loss on the road this season.
Gannon’s record improved to 6-2 with the win as Slippery Rock drops to 5-2-1.
The Rock held an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks and a 9-5 advantage in shots, but there were no goals for either team in the first half.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, in the 60th minute of the match, Gannon struck first with the initial goal of the game, putting the Rock to a 1-0 deficit.
In the 74rd minute, sophomore forward Cailin Conner scored her first goal of the season off an assist by sophomore midfielder Allison Harbart to bring the score even at 1-1.
Gannon wasted no time in taking the lead as the Golden Knights regained the upper hand in the 76th minute, putting the Rock down 2-1.
The score would stay the same for the remaining 15 minutes of play with Gannon handing Slippery Rock only their second loss of the season.
“I thought last night against Gannon we played absolutely phenomenal soccer. We couldn’t have asked for anything more from our players,” Coach Noreen Herlihy said. “The passing, the attacking, the creativity, the opportunities, there are a lot of positives to take away from that game. But when you don’t put away your chances it can come back to bite you.”
This past Saturday, Slippery Rock traveled to Johnstown, Pa. for a face off with the winless Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats. This game was the first meeting of the programs in either school’s history.
The Rock did not take long to strike first as freshman forward Dara Demich received a pass from freshman defender Ariana Daukss in the fourth minute and placed it in the back of the goal, giving Slippery Rock a 1-0 lead.
In the 20th minute, Harbart brought the score to 2-0 with an unassisted goal, her first goal of the season.
Freshman forward Andrea Felix netted her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 60th minute, giving SRU the 3-0 advantage. Sophomore midfielder Crysta Ganter supplied the assist.
Slippery Rock finished their scoring spree in the 70th minute with junior forward Nicole Krueger’s first goal of the season after controlling a rebounded shot from sophomore Caitlin Binder bringing the final score to 4-0.
Senior goalkeeper Dana O’Neill recorded her second shutout of the season and brought her SRU career total to 25.
“I really think we are starting to gel right now, which is a positive sign,” Herlihy said.
Slippery Rock will continue PSAC competition and host Mercyhurst University tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the James Egli Field. Mercyhurst is currently 3-4-1 in the conference with an overall record of 4-4-1.
