The Slippery Rock University lacrosse team split their pair of games last weekend against West Chester and Shippensburg.
It started Friday with a double overtime loss to 16th ranked West Chester University, 13-12. This was the second game in a row that the Rock lost in double OT to a nationally ranked opponent.
The West Chester game started out where the Rock struggled to come out of the gates. West Chester took a 10-4 lead just 32 seconds into the first half. SRU then went on a 5-0 run, which was led by Kaytlin Callaghan, who scored four goals.
West Chester went on to score the next two goals, before the Rock then went on another run, this time 3-0, to tie the game at 12-12. SRU had their chances to score in OT, but West Chester ended up getting the last laugh with 3:49 left in the second OT.
The Green and White dominated the stat sheet against West Chester. They led in total shots (33-23), shots on goal (23-19), draw controls (17-12) and groundballs (24-23). SRU hurt themselves with turnovers (22), with 10 of those being uncaused.
“We had the chance to beat them,” Callaghan said. “We are starting to come together, and are showing the PSAC that we can beat anyone.”
SRU head coach Emily Hopkins said the loss was due to the fact that the team came out slow, which has been their Achilles heel most of the season.
Against Shippensburg on Saturday, the Rock came out and established dominance the whole way through, eventually finishing with a 15-7 win. SRU came out hard from the opening whistle, registering an advantage in total shots (39-18), shots on goal (34-13), groundballs (32-25) and forced turnovers (18-6).
Paige Costantino reached a milestone on Saturday, scoring her 100th goal for SRU. She is only the 7th player in program history to reach that mark.
For the whole game, Costantino tallied seven points, with six goals and one assist. Other contributors were Callaghan with three goals and one assist, Erin Wilcox with three goals, Jasey Sanders with two goals and Ally Culhane with one goal.
With a strong showing over the weekend, the team is confident in their chances to not only make the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament, but win it.
“This year we are saying we want to win the PSAC instead of just making it in,” Callaghan said. “We have hung with the best, and we are ready to win those close games.”
Wilcox believes the same thing as Callaghan and said that is a difference in this year’s team.
“We have different people stepping up,” Wilcox said. “Previous years, we were counting on only a couple people, but now we have multiple weapons.”
The Rock’s next game is against Bloomsburg University on Saturday in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
