The Brooke Testa to Skye Kramer connection struck again against Bloomsburg University but for naught, as the Huskies lit up the Slippery Rock women’s soccer team for a season-high three goals allowed in a 3-1 defeat on the road Saturday afternoon.
Senior forwards Brooke Testa and Skye Kramer were the connecting duo in The Rock’s 1-0 victory over the Huskies in 2017, the senior duo once again linked up for the only goal, the only shot on goal in the match, for the Green and White.
Testa sent a pass forward for Kramer in the 65th minute which Kramer collected and slotted past Huskies’ goalkeeper Jenna Hawkins to cut the deficit in half at 2-1.
The Huskies managed to crack The Rock defense twice before Kramer’s goal and added an insurance tally in the 86th minute for good measure.
Huskies’ forwards’ Christina Podpora and Nicole Varano both scored their first goals of the season on assists from midfielder Allie Barber. With a bit less than 30 minutes played in the first half, The Rock trailed 2-0.
While The Rock attempted to find an equalizing goal, Huskies’ forward Mackenzie Gebhardt iced the game with an 86th-minute strike to seal a 3-1 victory for the second-placed Huskies.
Road woes continued for The Rock along with an offensive power outage. Dating back to September 12th, a stretch of nine games, the Green and White have only been able to muster nine goals. A three-match winless streak away from home has seen The Rock score only twice while giving up seven goals.
With only one shot on goal, three total shots coming from Kramer, The Rock continued a trend of not generating offensive pressure on the opposing goal.
With only 69 shots on goal in 13 games at a 5.33 per game clip, The Rock rank bottom five in shots on goal and shots on goal per game.
The normally rock-solid defense finally cracked, giving up three goals for the first time since November of 2016 against East Stroudsburg University. Senior goalkeeper Kylie Downs put in a valiant effort for The Rock, however, with seven saves in net.
Stalled at eighth in the PSAC, The Rock sit at 7-4-2 with a 5-4-2 conference record. The Green and White sit 10 points back of conference leaders Millersville University.
The grueling PSAC gauntlet continues for The Rock with a road match against Millersville on Friday, October 12th. Over the past six games, the Green and White have played the second, third, fourth and six ranked teams in the PSAC and the conference leader awaits.
With three losses and a draw over those games, a win over Millersville would go a long way in boosting morale for the stretch run against teams below The Rock in the conference rankings moving toward the end of the season.
