The Slippery Rock University women’s lacrosse team pulled out its first win in the Pennsylvania State Action Conference (PSAC) with a final score of 10-7 against Edinboro at home on Tuesday.
Not only was it the team’s first conference victory, but two players made Slippery Rock lacrosse program history by reaching the 100 goals milestone in each of their careers. Seniors Erin Wilcox and Kaytlin Callaghan each had hat tricks Tuesday night, giving them 100 career goals apiece. They are only the eighth and ninth players in Slippery Rock lacrosse history to achieve such a milestone.
“It’s not very common, it’s a big deal. It is like being a 1,000 point scorer in basketball. It’s even more unique they did it together in the same game,” Rock head coach Emily Hopkins said.
SRU’s record now improves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC. Slippery Rock also managed to keep its winning streak against the Fighting Scots alive with 10 straight wins since 2009 and handed Edinboro its first loss on the season and in conference play. The victory on Tuesday marked the fourth straight season in which The Rock has won its first home game of the season.
The game started off with Edinboro taking the 2-0 lead early less than two minutes into the game.
It did not take long for Slippery Rock to get on the board afterwards with Callaghan’s 100th goal of the season.
This goal started a 5-0 run for Slippery Rock and The Rock took a 5-2 lead heading into the half.
Edinboro came out early scoring another goal on their end less than a minute into the second half. Slippery Rock responded with two goals of its own, keeping the lead at 7-3.
Eventually Edinboro cut the score down to 8-6 and 9-7 but it was not enough to overcome SRU and Callaghan put away the last goal to end the game.
“It’s a huge significance (to get the first conference win), it’s really important to start the conference season on the right foot to get that win underneath that belt,” Hopkins said.
Overall Slippery Rock led in the shots categories with 27 compared to the 19 that Edinboro had. Edinboro keeper Page Skinner was a big reason they managed to stay in the game with her 11 saves overall.
Juniors Caitlynn Palladino and Jasey Sanders and sophomores Bre Vodde and Danni Wilson all had one goal, followed by one assist each from freshman Jordan Chan and sophomore Tia Torchia. Senior goalie Jordan Wagner had nine saves in the net and allowed a season-low seven goals.
Slippery Rock plays their next game away at East Stroudsburg Saturday, March 19, at 1 p.m. This will also be another PSAC matchup as they try to stay undefeated in the PSAC.
