The Shippensburg University field hockey team sits in third place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) after splitting a pair of conference games last week.
Heading into the week, the Raiders (8-5, 5-2 PSAC) were flying high coming off of wins against No. 2 Millersville University and No. 5 Kutztown University. They were playing their best hockey of the season and had jumped up to third in the conference.
The team had a golden opportunity to tie West Chester University in the conference with a win against them on Wednesday night. However, the Golden Rams put together a good performance to beat the Raiders 4-1 on a cold, rainy day in West Chester.
West Chester got out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Katie Thompson in the 10th minute of action. The Raiders were not able to rebound, giving up two more goals in the second quarter while getting outshot 8-2.
The Raiders were never really able to get much going against West Chester, getting outshot 22-4. Junior Sarah Womer scored the team’s lone goal, her first goal of the season, in the 57th minute to avoid the shutout.
SU bounced back against Mercyhurst University on Saturday night, exploding for a 7-0 shutout. Junior Jazmin Petrantonio tallied four goals, including one off of a penalty stroke. The Raiders outshot Mercyhurst 23-1, dominating play on both sides of the field.
The game was scoreless through two quarters and change, with the Mercyhurst defense doing a good job holding SU to only seven shots in the first half. However, Petrantonio scored her first goal of the night in the 41st minute and the floodgates proceeded to open up from there. The Raiders scored all of their goals in the second half while totaling 16 shots in the final two quarters of play.
SU senior Rosalia Cappadora picked up a goal and an assist in the win over Mercyhurst. Freshman Paige Bond recorded an assist on one of Petrantonio’s four goals. It was the first assist of her collegiate career.
The Raiders have Mercyhurst’s number this season as they have outscored them 15-0 in two matchups.
The Raiders still have some things to work on if they are to make another national championship run. They have failed to beat either of the top two teams in the PSAC, West Chester or East Stroudsburg University, in three combined games.
Up next for the Raiders is a pair of games against teams in the bottom half of the PSAC standings. The team takes on Seton Hill University at home on Tuesday night and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) at home on Saturday.
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