Rock falls to No. 2 Kutztown

SRU field hockey comes up short in close-fought game

Published by Noelle Paratore, Date: October 28, 2024
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Riley Cloude attacks a ball during an Oct. 23 tilt against D'Youville University. The freshman is over 650 minutes played in her first season with The Rock. Josh Vazquez/Rocket Contributor

Slippery Rock women’s field hockey lost 2-1 in their game against Kutztown University at Milhalik-Thomson Stadium last Friday.

Kutztown is placed third in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) division. They are elevated to a 5-3 conference record with the win.

The Golden Bears had two penalty corners within 10 seconds during the first two minutes. Two more penalty corners by The Bears’ Erin Gonzalez followed to round it out and the first period ended scoreless.

Kutztown scored their first goal of the game when Greenleigh McGehee sunk a shot with an assist by Marlee Fetrow. They were able to get one more shot past The Rock’s goalie, Grace Burker, closing the first half with a 2-0 lead.

Coming back for the second half, The White and Green could not find the back of the net after their first penalty corner of the game by Sammy Graci, a shot attempted by Baliee Christman and a penalty stroke shot by Roz Mikulak. All attempts were blocked by Kutztown’s goalie Mia Kepler.

Christman has started every game in the season so far and currently ranks ninth in program history in assists.

The Bears had other attempts to score with four penalty corners and six shots, but none of them got past Burker.

The senior goalie ranks third in program history in saves and third in goalie wins.

In the final period, The Rock was able to get their one and only goal on the board in the final 25 seconds of the game when Sammy Graci scored her first goal of the season. The junior forward player has started 11 out of the 14 games this season.

The White and Green will continue their season with a game against Mercyhurst University on Tuesday at Saxon Stadium.

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