Ranked seventh in the nation, the Lock Haven Eagles (15-2, 11-1 PSAC) cruised to their 13th straight win last Sunday with a dominating win over Slippery Rock (6-11, 3-9 PSAC) by a final score of 25-6.
The Eagles exploded out of the gates with 11 straight goals in the first 10 minutes of play. Junior midfielder Kelly Hamilton and redshirt-junior midfielder Jessica Pandolf each had three goals for Lock Haven during that span.
Junior attacker Paige Costatino scored two unassisted goals for SRU within 90 seconds of each other.
“I am a person with a lot of perseverance and I am hard working,” Costatino said. “Each season I try to be better than the last.”
Lock Haven answered back quickly with six more goals to enter halftime with a 17-2 lead over SRU.
The 17 goals given up in the first half is the highest since SRU gave up 19 goals in one half against West Chester University in 2008.
The Eagles took the initiative to strike first yet again with two goals in the second half to raise their lead to 19-2.
Costatino responded with her third goal of the game, the Rock now trailed by 16 goals, 19-3.
LHU delivered another flurry of goals, this time totaling at three, to give themselves a 19 goal lead, their largest of the game.
For the remaining 13 minutes of the contest the two teams took turns exchanging goals back and forth, three times in total.
Junior attacker Jess Verbic scored initially for SRU followed by a goal by the Eagles.
Senior attacker Morgan Pettit scored the final two goals for SRU which were equalized by two more Lock Haven goals, bringing the final score to a lopsided 25-6 Eagle victory.
Sophomore Hannah Houde received the loss for SRU after letting up 17 goals in the first half.
Sophomore Jordan Wagner entered the game following halftime and allowed eight goals.
Pettit rounds out her fourth year at SRU tied for second in the record books with 57 goals this season. Thanks to her successful four year career at Slippery Rock she also tied for third in career goals with 112.
“I never thought I would ever actually be up there,” Pettit said. It is very exciting though to know that I will now leave something to be remembered for.”
Defender Kaitlyn Hafdell and midfielder Lacey Allis also brought their collegiate lacrosse careers to an end on Saturday.
“We will need to have more players that are goal scorers,” Costatino said. “We will also need people to step up on defense and be impactful because that is also going to be another key for us to be successful next year.”
Since its establishment in 2007, the SRU women’s lacrosse team has compiled an overall record of 49-86.
The program went winless in its first two years of participation (0-34).
Under head coach Emily Hopkins, the team has slowly improved from year to year. Since she took over the program in 2008 the team has won 49 games and lost 69.
Hopkins took a 2008 program that went 0-17 and turned it into a 12-5 team in 2012.
One of the only areas that the Slippery Rock University women’s lacrosse team has yet to find any success, however is maneuvering their way into the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoffs.
SRU will enter the 2015 season in pursuit of their first playoff berth, something that the entire staff and roster are eager to accomplish.
“The program will have a lot returning players which will be a huge advantage,” Pettit said. “If everyone individually focuses on the little things in the off season, as a team they can work on the bigger picture. No doubt they can do better next season.”
