The Shippensburg University lacrosse team won a sloppy, wet and wild game against Slippery Rock University on Saturday afternoon, 17–16.
A light drizzle began to come down as the game began and stayed consistent throughout, but the Raiders never let Mother Nature bother them.
Under two minutes into the game Kayla Dalzell scored the first of 17 SU goals.
The Rock and SU traded goals throughout the first half — one that took an hour to complete.
SU strung together three goals when the game was tied at three to give itself a small 6–3 lead. Bennett Widlake, Amanda Krok and Sheila Johnson accounted for the three goals but SRU came back strong late in the first half.
SRU notched a goal to bring the game within two scores but SU added another goal to extend its lead to three goals.
The teams traded goals again, taking the score to 8–5 in favor of SU, but The Rock scored back-to-back goals to bring the game within one.
Widlake answered again for SU, putting it ahead 9–7. SRU fired back with three straight goals to take its first lead of the game, 10–9, with a little more than three minutes remaining in the half.
SU’s Johnson scored her second goal of the game 15 seconds before the end of the first half to tie the game at 10.
SRU came out of the break with two quick goals but Johnson answered again with her third goal of the game to pull SU within one.
The Raiders scored four unanswered goals after Johnson’s goal to take a dominate 15–12 lead.
SU added two more goals while The Rock added four, but SRU’s late surge was not enough as the Raiders captured their fifth overall victory. The win now puts SU at 5–4 overall and 2–2 in PSAC play.
Widlake led the way for the Raiders with seven goals and one assist.
Johnson notched her third-straight hat trick after tallying four goals against SRU.
Courtney Kennedy added two goals and three assists for SU as well.
The Raiders will be back in action on Tuesday when they take on Kutztown University from Robb Sports Complex at 4 p.m.
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