The Slippery Rock University women’s lacrosse team (1-0) opened play Saturday afternoon against the University of Findlay (1-1), the reigning champions of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC.) The Rock won, 12-8, snapping a nine-game road losing streak that dated back to the spring of 2018.
It took little over two minutes for The Rock to concede its first goal of the campaign, coming from the stick of Oiler midfielder Kendra Lindell. Later in the period, Slippery Rock’s Katie Dlugosz, a sophomore midfielder, would strike twice in under a minute-and-a-half to claim the lead, which the team would refuse to relinquish for the remainder of the game.
Haley Barrett would block four shots in the first 30 minutes. After scoring an additional four goals in the rest of the half, Slippery Rock would carry a 6-2 advantage into the break.
Shortly into the second half, The Green and White’s top goal-scorer of 2019, senior midfielder ShyAnne Toomer, struck for the second time. Not to be outdone, Dlugosz would net her fourth of the game minutes later. Courtesy of senior attacker Sami Gentzler and sophomore Emily Benham, The Rock would stretch the lead to 10-2 with 18 minutes remaining in the contest.
The Oilers went on a four-goal run in the game’s final four minutes, thanks in part to a free position shot and a yellow card on senior defender Olivia Beach.
Leading Van Alstyne’s charge with four points each were Dlugosz and Toomer. Dlugosz, in her second year at The Rock, scored four times, her highest amount in a single game to date. Toomer, a third-team All-PSAC selection in 2019, notched her 10th career hat trick, pushing it to 16 consecutive appearances in which she has netted at least one goal.
Benham, who played in all 16 games as a rookie a year ago, connected for two goals and added an assist. Junior midfielder Francesca Lindelow also slipped a goal past Findlay goalie Rachel Bornstein and sophomore Molly Buettner handed an assist. Freshman attacker Jamie DiCarlo, from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, registered the first marker of her collegiate career.
Worth noting, senior defender Olivia Beach, who has battled through a pair of knee injuries, made her first career start.
SRU fired 26 shots—three more than UF—and scooped up 31 ground balls.
Slippery Rock’s victory marked the 11th-straight season that the program has begun in the W column. The team will be in action next on Sunday, March 1 when Georgian Court visits. The game will most likely take place at Westminster College as Mihalik-Thompson Stadium’s new turf is in the process of being installed.
