The Shippensburg University field hockey team faced a rough test at home Tuesday against PSAC West foe Slippery Rock University but pulled away with a 2-1 victory from David See Field.
SU took advantage of two first half goals and held strong on defense the rest of the game. Sophomore Tori Ricker and junior Bre White accounted for both of SU’s goals.
Offensive attacks aplenty, SU seemed to take control early. With lots of commotion in front of the cage the Raiders scored when Ricker capitalized on a pass from White. Less than three minutes later, White joined the scoring party, knocking in a pass from Katie Shoop into the back of the cage.
After that, the SU offense sputtered and appeared tired heading into the second half of play.
The Rock got on the board with less than 11 minutes to go in regulation when Kelsey Gustafson was able to sneak one past SU keeper Ciarra Delost.
However, that would be all the Rock could manage. A penalty shot from the Rock in the opening minutes of the second half was denied by Delost; a pivotal moment in the game.
SU came off a huge win last Saturday against PSAC No. 1 West Chester but lacked the same intensity against SRU. After the game, head coach Bertie Landes commented on the effort from her players.
“The team just did not seem the same as on Saturday. You can’t take anyone for granted. We just have to get back to it,” Landes said.
The Raiders led in shots, 18-3, but the game did not reflect those numbers. SRU looked like it was going to be in for a long day in the first half, but it came out fighting in the second. The Rock, which is not known for having a strong field hockey program, is off to its best start in 17 years.
The Raiders play away this weekend against both LIU Post on Friday and East Stroudsburg University on Saturday. Both games, which are PSAC east clashes, are slated to start at 1 p.m.
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