Slippery Rock University’s women’s field hockey team lost to the Mercyhurst University Lakers on Wednesday at Louis J Tullio Field in Erie, Pa. by the score of five to two. The loss gives SRU seven losses on the year in PSAC play.
The game between the two PSAC foes stayed scoreless for most of the first half but that changed when Hayley Skidmore got the Lakers on the board a few seconds after the 29th minute in the first half. Senior forward Katie Lechner was credited with the assist on Skidmore’s goal. The goal was Skidmore’s sixth this year. The assist was Lechner’s fourth on the season. The game went into the half with Mercyhurst ahead one to zero.
Mercyhurst scored again almost two minutes into the second half when junior forward Alexis Skitbitsky scored for them. The goal was Skitbitsky’s fourth so far this season. Junior midfielder Clare Ahern assisted on the goal. Ahern would have three assists in the game. The score was then two to nothing at that point.
Around four minutes later, Slippery Rock made things interesting with a goal by sophomore forward Kayla Ulrich. The goal was the team-leading eighth of the year by Ulrich. She now has 19 career goals. She’ll need one more goal to tie Christine Peupile and Lindsay Brown for fourth all-time in program history for career goals.
Less than two minutes later Mercyhurst’s freshman midfielder Lizzy Laird scored making the score three to one. Clare Ahern assisted on the goal.
Almost six minutes later the Lakers scored again with a goal by freshman defender Alexandria Shumsky. Alexis Skitbitsky got the assist on Shumsky’s goal. Shumsky’s goal was her fifth on the season. The assist was Skitbitsky’s second of the season.
The Green and White managed to get on the board again as freshman forward Jessie Trube scored a little more than a minute later. The goal was Trube’s fifth of the season which made the score four to two. Trube is now tied for fourth in program history for most goals scored in a freshman season. Trube is tied with Megan McKay who is the program’s all-time leader in career goals scored with 33. McKay was with the SRU program from 2013 through 2016.
Mercyhurst, however, added on to their lead as junior midfielder Abby D’Amato scored making the score five to two. Clare Ahern assisted on the goal. D’Amato’s goal was the game’s final tally. Ahern’s three assists in the game gives her six assists this year.
Five goals are the most The Rock has allowed this season. Mercyhurst tied a season-high in goals scored with five. A victory over Queens University of Charlotte earlier in the season was the other time the Lakers scored five times.
Despite the score being so lopsided, the teams remained close in shots registered with The Rock registering 12 shots and Mercyhurst recording 14 shots. SRU’s sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Murphy allowed five goals in the 56 minutes and 12 seconds she played while recording one save. Freshman goalkeeper Hannah Nurse appeared in net for the duration of time for Slippery Rock making one save and allowing zero goals.
Kayla Ulrich and senior midfielder Hannah Downing recorded three shots apiece which led the way for The Green and White. Lizzy Laird recorded a team-leading four shots for Mercyhurst.
Slippery Rock remains in second to last place in the PSAC with a conference record of one win and seven losses. Their overall record drops to six wins and ten losses.
Slippery Rock University’s next game will be Senior Day. Tara Maloney, Hannah Simone, Rachel Ivins, Liz Wolfe, Sam Geroski, and Hannah Downing are this season’s seniors. It’ll be a home contest on Sunday at 1:00 pm at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium against the Bloomsburg University Huskies. The Huskies have an overall record of nine wins and six losses with a PSAC record of three wins and five losses.
Slippery Rock fell to Bloomsburg one to zero earlier in the season in a game at Bloomsburg. Slippery Rock has beaten Bloomsburg just two times in its history whereas Bloomsburg has beaten The Rock 44 times. This game will be Slippery Rock’s second to last game of the season.
