The Mansfield University Mountaineers beat fifth-ranked Slippery Rock University by a score of 4-0 in a women’s field hockey conference game which took place Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017 at Van Norman Field in Mansfield, Pa. Mansfield won the previous non-conference contest between the two schools 1-0 earlier in the season.
Sophomore forward Larissa Motts scored the game’s first goal which did not occur until a little more than 12 minutes into the second half. Motts scored the game’s lone goal on September 6th when the teams last played each other. Just a little more than one minute after Motss’s goal, freshman midfield/defender Mikaila Chakon scored her first goal of the season which put the Mountaineers up 2-0. Mansfield would go on to score two more goals. One of those goals was scored by Motts once again. That final goal by Motts, which was the game’s last goal, was her seventh of the season.
The Green and White received three green cards in the game. One of them happened in the first half while the other two happened in the second half. Senior forward Kailee Krupski received a green card in the first half, and the other two went to Senior midfielder Kayla Mack.
Mansfield outshot The Rock (18-15), with every one of Mansfield’s shots happening in the second half with senior forward Chelsea Tanco registering six shots. Tanco led the team in the shots taken category for the Mountaineers.
Freshman forward Kayla Ulrich lead The Green and White with four shots taken. Ulrich also lead The Rock in shots taken the last time SRU played against Mansfield. She was credited with six shots taken in that previous match-up.
Out of the 15 shots, Slippery Rock took, eight were saves by sophomore goalkeeper Brittany Ryan. Because of Ryan’s play in goal, The Green and White were shutout. With this shutout over SRU, Ryan has four shutouts on the season. One of those shutouts came against Bloomsburg University who was ranked seventh in Division II at the time. Ryan recorded 12 saves in that performance against Bloomsburg and she ended up being named ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Division II Player of The Week. Ryan’s winning of ECAC Division II Player of The Week can also be attributed to a performance she had later that week against defending Division II National Champion Shippensburg University where she had 20 saves.
Mansfield’s win over Slippery Rock and their win over Bloomsburg give them two wins on the year against top 10 teams.
The loss snaps SRU’s four-game winning streak and gives The Rock its first loss in conference play.
Mansfield’s record improved to 5-5 (1-2) and SRU’s record fell to 8-4 (3-1).
