No. 1 Shippensburg University field hockey remained undefeated with two more wins this week, defeating Frostburg State on the road and No. 5 West Chester at home in a pair of 4-1 results.

The week’s games began on Wednesday with Frostburg State taking an early lead with a first quarter goal. SU responded quickly, as graduate Savannah Silvestre scored her second goal of the season off an assist from sophomore Emily Bitters to even the score.

SU senior Agus Garibaldi added a goal to give Shippensburg a 2-1 lead after one quarter. They added on early in the second, with senior Lilly Cantabene scoring off a reverse hit to double the lead.

The game remained 3-1 at halftime before SU scored the game’s last goal. Sophomore Anne Gardner scored off a Cantabene deflection for her third goal of the year, capping off a 4-1 Raider win.

Shippensburg outshot the Bobcats 24-9, holding Frostburg State to five shots on goal, four of which were saved by graduate Emma Albee.

The team returned home on Saturday, taking on the Golden Rams on a very warm afternoon. SU got off to a hot start, with senior Kelly Naudé’s sixth goal of the year, making the score 1-0 after the first quarter.

Cantabene scored off a penalty corner assist from junior Carme Caracotche Picone to extend the lead, making it 2-1. It was Canatbene’s eighth goal of the season, now having scored the most goals of anyone on the team.

The score remained 2-0 at halftime, but SU came out of the break strong. Just two minutes into the half, Gardner scored once again via an assist from sophomore Elaina Fragassi, making it 3-0.

West Chester scored soon after to close the gap, but Shippensburg added an insurance goal late in the fourth, as Fragassi scored her third goal of the year after Bitters’ first shot was saved.

Fragassi spoke postgame about the great effort, saying, “It’s huge for this team because we want to play a full 60 minutes, getting a goal in each quarter is important to keep the momentum in our half.”

SU held the Golden Rams to just eight shots on goal in the match, outshooting them 21-12 overall. The Raiders earned eight penalty corners, only allowing four, all in the second half.

This was the second matchup between the teams this season, with SU winning in double overtime at WCU in their second game of the season.

Shippensburg head coach Rayell Wallace spoke on the growth of the team since that first game.

“Staff and players are understanding each other, the players understand what we want, and we have been able to push them a lot. Everything is really moving in the right direction this far into the season,” said Wallace.

This week’s schedule for Shippensburg field hockey features a pair of road games. The team will travel to Millersville to play at 6 p.m. on Wednesday before taking on East Stroudsburg Saturday at 1 p.m.

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