It was as if the Slippery Rock University women’s lacrosse team (2-1) had taken note in its blowout loss to Georgian Court three days earlier. The team’s offense was running on all cylinders in its matchup with Tiffin University (1-2), posting the game’s first ten goals in an eventual 19-3 triumph in Grove City.
Slippery Rock took firm control in the first 30 minutes of play. ShyAnne Toomer, Emily Benham, Francesca Lindelow and Sami Gentzler each registered a goal in the first half’s final 2:30, pushing their team’s lead to 9-0 prior to the intermission.
The Rock didn’t let off the gas after the second period’s opening draw. A mere 33 seconds into the half, junior midfielder Tori Penders joined the list of goal scorers before the visitors’ Elle Hamilton would finally get her Dragons on the board shortly after.
Tiffin would only muster up two more scores while DiCarlo and Toomer would score two each themselves in the rest of the half. Second-year midfielder Katie Dlugosz would also score, extending her goal-scoring streak to six games.
The Rock fired 33 shots, while the Dragons could only manage 10. Each Toomer, DiCarlo, Benham and Gentzler notched hat tricks.
After not showing up in the offensive stat line against GCU, the freshman, DiCarlo, shot seven times and put up four goals, the most in her young career.
On the defensive end, both Penders and Rachel Shaw picked up four ground balls. Slippery Rock also forced 15 turnovers. Lindelow and Shaw combined for a half-dozen of these takeaways.
The Rock was successful in all but four of its 19 clear attempts and junior goalie Haley Barrett, who had stood guard in goal every minute of the first two fixtures, was given a break after 53 minutes, making five saves.
The 19 goals were the most the team pinned on the board in over a year.
