Slippery Rock University’s field hockey team lost Saturday, Sept. 29 to the no. 8 Bloomsburg University Huskies by a score of one to zero. The game took place at Steph Pettit Stadium in Bloomsburg, Pa.
The game for Slippery Rock against the nationally ranked Huskies remained scoreless for the first 50 minutes until freshman forward Arden Morgans scored a goal on a penalty corner for the Huskies making the score one to zero.
The goal, being Morgans’ first collegiate goal ever, came after freshman forward Kristin Robinson passed the ball to junior midfielder Tessa Hoffman who fired the ball towards sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Murphy of Slippery Rock. Hoffman’s shot was then redirected by Morgans into the net. Robinson and Hoffman received credit for assists on the play. The assist was Robinson’s first of the year and the team-leading fourth assist of the year for Hoffman.
Slippery Rock did manage to get five shots off against Bloomsburg in the less than 20 minutes remaining after falling behind one to zero. Three of those shots came off penalty corners. Sophomore forward Kayla Ulrich had two of those penalty corners. Senior midfielder Hannah Downing fired shots on goal during both of those penalty corners. Downing recorded three shots in the game.
The other penalty corner came just before the game’s conclusion as junior midfielder Kalie Reed had a penalty corner culminating in the game’s final play wherein sophomore midfielder Abby McKay got off a shot which was blocked by sophomore goalkeeper Dana Shepley who made an incredible diving save for Bloomsburg.
The Rock outshot the Huskies ten to eight. Downing led the way in shots taken while Ulrich and senior defender Liz Wolfe had two shots apiece. Wolfe recorded a defensive save bringing her to 16 career defensive saves. Wolfe has recorded a defensive save in each of the past three games.
Four of the eight shots by Bloomsburg resulted in saves by Maddie Murphy. Unfortunately for SRU, Murphy allowed the game’s lone goal leaving her record as goaltender to five wins and three losses on the season. Shepley recorded six saves for the Huskies. In addition to Shepley saving the final shot of the game, she saved the final shot of the first half during a penalty corner when Liz Wolfe fired the ball once and then a second time after the initial shot by Wolfe was blocked.
The Green and White’s next game, their first conference game, takes place Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 4:00 PM in Indiana, Pa. against the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks at Frank Cignetti Field. SRU won their first game against IUP earlier in the year by a score of two to one. The Crimson Hawks carry a one-win, six-loss record into the game while Slippery Rock, whose record fell to five wins and three losses after the loss to Bloomsburg, looks to sweep the season series against rival IUP.
