The Slippery Rock University women’s soccer team took on Edinboro University Wednesday, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) match-up.
The women, however, were unable to overcome a very aggressive Fighting Scots offensive, ultimately losing with a final score of 3-1. With the loss, The Rock is now 8-6-1 overall and 8-4-1 in conference play, which puts them in fifth place in the PSAC. Edinboro improves its record to 11-2-1 overall and 10-2-1 in the PSAC, which is good for third place.
Rock head coach Jessica Griggs said one of the major problems her team faced during the game was trying to get past Edinboro’s big defense.
“We definitely struggled to play at the pace we are used to playing at,” Griggs said. “Edinboro is really good at controlling the pace of the game and then making their opponent play at that pace.”
Slippery Rock senior Dara Demich registered the only goal for The Rock in the 26th minute. The goal, which was unassisted, was Demich’s fifth in her past six games.
The Rock took their 1-0 lead going into the second half of play. Slippery Rock would not hold the lead for long, however, ten minutes into the second half of play, Edinboro’s Alex Brown tied the match in the 50th minute. Just under six minutes later, Alex Brown scored again giving Edinboro their first lead of the match. The Rock’s woes continued when, in the 75th minute, Edinboro’s Ashley Mutkus scored the Fighting Scot’s third unanswered goal.
Freshman Madison Johnson led the way for the Green and White with three total shots while Demich recorded two shots. In total, The Rock had 10 total shots with 2 being on goal.
Sophomore goalie Kylie Downs played all 90 minutes with four saves in addition to the three goals allowed. Downs now has an .817 winning percentage, which is good for ninth place in the PSAC and also has a 1.012 goals against average percentage which is good for seventh place.
“We have been playing some very tough teams of late,” Griggs said. “I always talk about the potential that this team has and so I think that we need to just continue to push forward because I know what we can accomplish.”
The women will hope to bring back their winning ways when they take on Lock Haven University this Saturday at James Egli field in Slippery Rock. The match is set to begin at 4 p.m.
