After a close 1-0 win over Washington and Jefferson on Wednesday, the Slippery Rock field hockey team fell 5-2 against no. 3 team in the nation, fellow Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opponent, Shippensburg.
The loss drops SRU to 4-3 on the year, the team still with no conference record.
Shippensburg quickly took a 2-0 lead, scoring a goal at the 12-minute mark, and one at the 18-minute mark.
Slippery Rock had been splitting their time at goalkeeper between freshman Maddie Murphy and senior Nicole Bream until their last two games, where Murphy took over as the full-time goalie. In her previous 280 minutes in the goal this season, Murphy had only given up one goal, while providing the Rock 13 saves. Murphy struggled in goal on Saturday versus the Pre-season PSAC favorite Raiders, allowing three goals while only saving two. Murphy was replaced in the second half by Bream, who fared slightly better allowing two goals with six saves.
On the offensive side, the Green and White were shut out for the first 55 minutes, before senior forward Kailee Krupsky put her first goal of the year through the net, making the score 3-1. The goal was Krupsky’s 12th of her career.
Shippensburg would silence the Rock rally however, responding less than two minutes later to push the score to 4-1, then adding another in the 63rd minute to cap their scoring for the day, putting the Rock down 5-1.
Slippery Rock still fought till the end, and freshman forward Kayla Ulrich recorded her team-leading fifth goal of the year. Ulrich was assisted by fellow freshman forward, Courtney Page.
Ulrich’s goal pushed the score to 5-2, which is where it would remain for the rest of the game.
Shippensburg dominated the game, out-shooting SRU 23-10. Shippensburg also had 14 penalty corners in comparison to the Green and White’s five.
Slippery Rock will return to action on Wednesday for a non-conference game against Seton Hill University at 7 p.m., at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
