In another nail-biter, a theme for this season, the Slippery Rock women’s soccer team was able to persevere and pull out a win against conference foe Mansfield University.
Slippery Rock dominated possession and shot attempts against Mansfield throughout the game, leading in total shots 14-7, shots on goal 7-6 and corner kicks 8-3.
The Rock dominated especially early on, but couldn’t get a shot to fall.
“I knew that they were doing well. I had a lot of confidence in them that they would get one,” head coach Jessica Griggs said. “I think that they were putting on a lot of pressure. It’s hard to score goals in soccer, that’s why games aren’t multiple score games. I knew one was coming.”
The one goal of the game came in the first minute of the second half. Senior forward Andrea Felix registered her first goal of the season.
“It felt great after last season ending early,” Felix said. “It felt really good to come back out and it’s really what we needed at the beginning of the (second) half.”
The Rock had a plan to be aggressive coming out of halftime.
“We challenge the girls to put five passes in a row. Her (Felix) goal was the fifth pass,” Griggs said. “That’s really how it resulted.”
Felix tied for the team lead of shots on goal with sophomore forward Brooke Testa at two a piece. Junior midfielders Maddy Tietski and Tess Keeley as well as senior forward Dara Demich all had one shot on goal.
Important in the game was the play of sophomore goalie Kylie Downs, who posted a new career high in saves with six. Downs moves to 3-2 on the year, which includes two shutouts, a 0.54 goals against average and a .833 save percentage.
“It’s a team effort. We’ve been talking about it all season,” Felix said. “We need each and every person on this team to keep winning. Couldn’t do it without them.”
This win was the women’s soccer team’s third in their last four games. The Rock is now back to .500 overall, but touts an impressive 4-2 conference record.
Slippery Rock is now 10-0 against Mansfield all-time.
The Rock will look to advance their win streak to three games against Gannon University at home Sept. 27 at 1:30 p.m.
