The Slippery Rock University women’s soccer team hosted Seton Hill University Wednesday in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup. The Rock, led by two goals in the first half of play and a strong defensive performance throughout, ultimately upset the nationally ranked Griffins with a final score of 2-1.
Although pleased with her team’s performance, Rock head coach Jessica Griggs said that her team definitely gave the Griffins some chances to win the game, which was highlighted by a goal in the 79th minute by Seton Hill’s Katie Kimmich.
“We definitely gifted them some opportunities that we shouldn’t have,” Griggs said. “Other than that we played a great game.”
The Rock took the lead in the 29th minute when junior Brooke Testa would find the back of the net to register her second goal of the season. The goal was assisted by freshman Shannon McIntyre and sophomore Kaitlyn Barackman.
Slippery Rock would score their second goal of the afternoon in the 31st minute when Barackman would also score her second goal of the season off a pass from McIntyre, who finished the afternoon with two assists.
Griggs said that her team possessed the ball “very well” throughout the first half, which helped create scoring chances.
“Once we found a rhythmic way of possessing the ball, we started to penetrate a little more,” Griggs said. “Doing that helped put Seton Hill on their back heel a little bit. I was very happy with my team.”
Griggs attributed a large part of the win to the strength of her backline, something she continually mentions, as to why her team came out victorious. “The entire defense was solid throughout the game but the frontline started slacking a bit which is why Seton Hill was able to get through the defense,” Griggs said.
“We stopped defending upfront, which caused our backline to have to work more,” Griggs said. “The backline was solid but we ended up giving up that one goal, which I believe we just gave to them.”
Griggs said she is a little upset that her team was unable to come out with a “clean sheet” because they could take more pride in the upset.
Junior goalie Kylie Downs recorded five saves on six shots faced.
The Rock will look to continue their winning ways when they travel to East Stroudsburg University on Saturday to take on the Warriors.
Griggs said that her team finds East Stroudsburg to be their biggest rival in all of the PSAC. “The team looks at this upcoming game with their game already on.”
The match is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.
