Win and you’re in. Those were the stakes for the Slippery Rock lacrosse team as they traveled to Shippensburg for their last regular season game. The Rock would go on to win the game 18-6, clinching a playoff spot for the first time since the program was reinstated in 2007. This was also win number 12, the most in a single season for a Slippery Rock lacrosse team.
Senior attacker Chynna Chan started the scoring off with her 18th goal of the year before Shippensburg would tie the game. With the game being tied, Slippery Rock scored the next four goals of the game. The Rock received goals from redshirt junior attacker Ally Culhane with her 11th goal, senior attacker Caitlynn Palladino with her 31st on as assist from redshirt sophomore midfielder Tia Torchia, and then two goals from junior attacker Bre Vodde, which put her at 29 goals on the year.
With the game at 5-1, Shippensburg scored the first two goals of the second half to make the score 5-3. The teams then traded two goals apiece making the score 7-5. The Rock’s goals were scored by Torchia and senior defender Brittany Brewer recording her 8th on the season. With the game at 7-5, The Rock went on a game clinching 10-0 run to take control of their own playoff fate. The 10 goals were scored by 8 different players.
Torchia scored her 35th to start the run, followed by the 12th goal for Culhane, and then Torchia scored her 36th. The latter two goals were assisted by freshman midfielder ShyAnne Toomer, who then scored her 10th of the season. Chan scored her 19th assisted by freshman midfielder Tori Penders. Next, Brewer scored her 9th, Vodde her 30th, and Palladino scored her 32nd. The last two goals of the 10-o run were Chan scoring her 20th, and freshman midfielder Kelsey Thoensen scoring her 4th goal of the season. The two teams traded 1 more goal apiece, with sophomore midfielder Kelly Muenster scoring her second of the year. Junior goalie Emily Bitka got the win in the net and made 12 saves before being replaced by freshman goalie Tori Greco who made 1 save in the cage.
The team returns to the field for the first round of the PSAC playoffs on Tuesday, May 2, at 4 p.m. in Indiana against the Crimson Hawks.
