Last Saturday, Slippery Rock University’s field hockey team fell to the no. 2 East Stroudsburg University Warriors by the score of four-to-zero in a PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) game at Whitenight Field in East Stroudsburg, Pa.
Playing against top-notch talent has been the norm for The Rock as Saturday’s game with the Warriors marked the fourth time of the year they played against a top ten foe. East Stroudsburg’s top-notch talent showed up in force with their first goal coming a little more after 13 minutes into the game when senior midfielder Kelli Shapiro scored after a penalty corner making the score one-to-zero.
Although the score remained one-to-nil for the rest of the first half, the Warriors got off 12 shots and The Green and White got off zero.
SRU’s first shot, which came off the stick of senior defender Liz Wolfe, came three minutes into the second half. Only four shots were registered by The Rock in the game. Wolfe registered two shots in the game, with one occurring after a penalty corner. Slippery Rock managed to earn four penalty corners in the game. Three took place in the second half.
Of most interest in the contest was the performance by East Stroudsburg’s junior midfielder Karly Conway. Conway earned a hat trick. One of her three goals came nearly six minutes into the second half. Her second came almost six minutes later and her third goal came with less than 15 minutes in the game. Conway’s first goal was unassisted, her second was assisted by junior forward/midfielder Grace Martini, and her third was assisted by Kelli Shapiro. Conway’s recorded a team-leading seven goals so far this year. She leads her team in points with 16.
East Stroudsburg’s shutout of SRU is their fifth straight shutout tying a team record for consecutive shutouts set in 1995. During the stretch, they’ve allowed only five shots on goals. Two of their shutouts came against ranked opponents being Shippensburg and Bloomsburg. Eight of East Stroudsburg’s past nine games have been shutouts. The Warriors have beaten their last five opponents by a combined score of 21-to-zero.
A lone highlight for Slippery Rock was the performance of sophomore goaltender Maddie Murphy who recorded nine saves giving her 65 saves this season which eclipses her saves last year of 57. Her time in goal was split with freshman goaltender Hannah Nurse who recorded one save but allowed three goals. Murphy allowed one goal. Murphy and Nurse combined for ten saves out of 14 of East Stroudsburg’s shots.
With the loss, Murphy’s record falls to five wins and seven losses. Slippery Rock’s overall team record falls to five wins and seven losses. They are winless in PSAC play with a zero-win, four-loss record. East Stroudsburg, in the midst of a five-game winning streak, has an overall record of nine wins and two losses. Their PSAC record is four wins and zero losses.
Slippery Rock University has lost five in a row and will look to pick up its first conference win this Saturday, Oct. 20 at Andre Reed Stadium in Kutztown, Pa. against the no. 7 Kutztown University Golden Bears who sport a nine-win, three-loss overall record and two-win, two-loss conference record.
Two of Kutztown’s wins this year have come against no. 9 Bloomsburg University. The game is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. The game will celebrate 50 years of Kutztown field hockey and is intended to honor the program’s history. Alumni and coaches will be recognized during the pre-game. A cornerstone event will take place. At halftime, the program’s all-time team will be recognized.
