At Andre Reed Stadium on Saturday, Slippery Rock University’s women’s field hockey team lost for the sixth straight time in a conference game against the Kutztown University Golden Bears by a score of 3-1. The game for Kutztown involved a celebration of 50 years of women’s field hockey action where alumni and coaches were recognized.
The game appeared reminiscent of The Rock’s last outing against East Stroudsburg as Kutztown in this contest got off to a fast start and put their foot on the pedal. Within the game’s first two and a half minutes, the Golden Bears scored a goal off a penalty corner by sophomore defender Leigh Roselli which set up a score by freshman midfielder Rachel Dusman. The goal was Dusman’s 11th this season and one of her two goals for the game. Dusman had a game-high nine shots with seven being shots on goal. Dusman has scored the second most goals this season for the Golden Bears.
Slippery Rock did make the game interesting, however, as sophomore forward Kayla Ulrich scored with less than 40 seconds to go in the first half. The goal was her sixth this season and the 16th of her career. She ranks seventh all-time in program history for career goals scored and ranks tenth all-time in program history with 38 career points.
The game went tied at one apiece into the half despite 11 shots being recorded in the first half by Kutztown. SRU recorded just three shots in the first half.
Just over three minutes into the second half, junior forward Kyra Wozniak scored her team-leading 16th goal of the year for Kutztown making the score 2-1. Junior midfielder Mackenzie Fuhrman assisted on the score. Wozniak recorded five shots in the contest.
Kutztown scored one more goal, the game’s final goal, off the stick of Dusman with less than five minutes remaining. Sophomore midfielder Alyssa Donato was credited with the assist on Dusman’s goal.
Prior to Dusman’s goal, freshman midfielder/defender Emily Polakovsky earned a penalty corner, but The Rock could not convert it into points as no shot came as a result. SRU recorded only one shot in the second half which came with less than three minutes remaining in the game. Freshman forward Jessie Trube registered that shot which resulted in a save by junior goalkeeper Kerri Hanshaw. Hanshaw ended the game with three saves recorded but allowed one goal. Hanshaw, playing in her first full 70 minutes game this season, now has a one win zero loss season record.
The Green and White’s sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Murphy had a much busier time in net than Hanshaw, as she recorded ten saves out of 14 shots on goal by Kutztown. Murphy has 75 saves on the season. Including this game, she’s made ten or more saves in three games this season. Unfortunately for Murphy, her season record falls to five wins and eight losses.
A defensive save was made during the game by senior defender Liz Wolfe who now has four defensive saves on the season and 17 career defensive saves. She needs one more defensive save to tie Lauren Moran for third most career defensive saves in program history.
SRU recorded just four shots in the game to Kutztown’s domineering 17 shots. All of The Green and White’s shots were shots on goal, while just 14 of Kutztown’s were shots on goal.
The Kutztown Golden Bears now sport an overall record of ten wins and four losses with a PSAC record of three wins and three losses. Slippery Rock’s overall record falls to five wins and eight losses with a PSAC record of zero wins and five losses. Slippery Rock is currently on a six-game losing streak. The Rock has five games remaining in the regular season.
Slippery Rock University’s next game will be at home Wednesday against the Seton Hill University Griffins. They are winless. Their overall record is zero wins and 12 losses and their PSAC record is zero wins and five losses. So far this year, they have scored four goals and have allowed an astounding total of 66. The game takes place at 4 p.m. at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
