Slippery Rock University women’s lacrosse pulled off a road victory Wednesday afternoon, defeating No. 9 East Stroudsburg 12-6 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Reagan Richeson led the charge with six goals and one assist as The Rock remains undefeated at 3-0.
Slippery Rock set the tone early, outscoring East Stroudsburg 3-1 in the first quarter. Richeson netted her first goal just three minutes into the game, and Grace Rotter followed with another to put SRU ahead. East Stroudsburg answered with a goal from Sadie Kauffman, but Richeson struck again to close the quarter with The Rock leading.
The momentum carried into the second quarter as Slippery Rock extended its lead. Rotter scored her second goal of the game off an assist from Isabella Buono, and Richeson added another to put SRU up 6-1. Despite a goal from East Stroudsburg’s Delia Lederman, Slippery Rock went into halftime with a comfortable 7-2 advantage.
East Stroudsburg attempted a comeback in the third quarter, with goals from Kauffman and Paige Moreland cutting the deficit to 8-4. However, Slippery Rock’s defense, anchored by goalie Lily Ventresca’s eight saves, kept the Warriors at bay.
The Rock sealed the victory in the final quarter, outscoring East Stroudsburg 4-2. Richeson added two more goals, including one with just over three minutes left, ensuring Slippery Rock’s upset over the top-10 opponent.
Richeson paced the SRU attack with a career-high seven points, scoring six goals and adding one assist. Rotter recorded her second hat trick in the first three games of her SRU career. Leora Owings contributed two goals and led the team with six draw controls, while Abby Fink and Owings each found the back of the net once.
Lily Ventresca had eight saves while allowing only six goals against ESU’s high-powered offense. Paige Jenkins led the defense with four caused turnovers and four ground ball recoveries.
For East Stroudsburg, Kauffman and Moreland paced the offense with two points each. Goalie Abby Simonetti recorded 10 saves in the loss.
The Rock will now travel to No. 22 Limestone University for a noon matchup Saturday in Gaffney, South Carolina. SRU will then continue its road trip with games against Newberry College and Lander University before returning north to begin PSAC-West play on March 22 at Gannon.
