The Raiders offense has officially kicked it into high gear.

Shippensburg University field hockey’s burst of offense flattened Slippery Rock University Saturday, 5-2.

Fresh off the team’s 6-1 shellacking of the No. 2 team in the country, forwards for SU seem to have hit their strides, potting another five against a Slippery Rock squad that had no quit. 

But the Raiders offense was not to be denied, once again peppering the goaltender early and often. The team’s breakout scorer this season, Emily Barnard, once again found herself in a prime scoring position, hammering home a loose ball in front of the net for her eighth goal of the season. 

Barnard found the net again after a cross-field breakout pass sent three SU forwards in alone on goal. Senior Lauren Zengulis slid a cross-crease pass to Barnard who clapped it into the corner of the goal, giving the Raiders an all-important insurance goal. 

The Raiders continued to push for chances upfield throughout the remainder of the first half but failed to convert, holding a 2-0 lead going into halftime.  

Both teams battled for supremacy right out of the second half, but it was Shippensburg’s Brooke Sheibley who cashed in first, cracking a ball into the corner of the net off a penalty corner.

The team has been finding success in its corner plays as of late. With the amount of pressure the forwards have been placing on other teams, defenses are making mistakes, allowing SU to play to its strengths and get the ball to its finishers. Shippensburg racked up 14 corners against Slippery Rock, while just allowing five on the defensive end. 

SU has also been successful working stretch passes up the field, often torching defenses unprepared to keep up with the Raiders’ speed on offense, something head coach Tara Zollinger echoed after the game. “I think it’s a result of them being more calm on the ball under pressure,” Zollinger said. “They actually prefer to have pressure on them because then they understand what way the defense is going so they can move opposite of that.”

Some loose defending allowed Slippery Rock forwards to find some soft areas in the Raiders’ defensive third, where Kailee Krupski was able to get one back for the Rock. 

With momentum looking like Slippery Rock might begin to start capitalizing, SU senior Mary Spisak shut that down, immediately potting a goal of her own, roofing a backhand shot into the top corner of the net. Spisak later added another goal on a tic-tac-toe passing play from a penalty corner with Slippery Rock defenders struggling to deny SU’s quick passes.

With the goals rolling in, it is not hard to determine why Shippensburg has picked up wins as of late. “We’re playing fast,” Zollinger said. “We’re getting the ball and giving it and it’s working right now.

SU now sits at 5-1, but the team still has some room for improvement, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. “We’ve gotta clean up our defensive side,” Zollinger said. “We’ve gotta get tougher in our defensive 25, so that’s what we’re going to be working on this week to try to implement against Mansfield.”

Shippensburg is looking to continue building on its three-game win streak when it heads to Mansfield University to take on the Mounties in the team’s first Pennsylvania State Athletic Association (PSAC) match of the season. Faceoff is at 6 p.m. Saturday.

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