ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team lost to East Stroudsburg University, 2-0, Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament on the campus of Gannon University.
 
The loss drops The Rock's record to 13-6-1 overall. East Stroudsburg improved to 10-6-2 and will now face the winner of the second semifinal game between top-seeded Gannon and Edinboro in the PSAC Tournament championship game 1 p.m. Sunday.
 
Slippery Rock will now wait to see if it is one of the six teams out of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region to earn a tournament bid. SRU was slotted sixth in the region in the NCAA's latest rankings. The 2015 tournament field will be officially announced 6:30 p.m. Monday. Slippery Rock has qualified for the national tournament in four out of the last five seasons.
 
The combination of Sammi Jo Hughes and Molly Vicari led East Stroudsburg to the victory. Hughes scored both goals while Vicari assisted on the two scores.
 
Slippery Rock had its chances throughout the game as it held a 16-12 advantage over the Warriors in total shots, a 6-5 edge in shots on goal and a 4-1 lead in corner kicks.
 
The Rock controlled the opening 25 minutes of play by maintaining possession and firing off four shots. However, East Stroudsburg countered over the following 15 minutes of play and finally broke through a a tough Rock defense, which had allowed just 13 goals on the year coming into the match, when Vicari placed a crossing pass to Hughes who sent a header just inside the right post for the game's first goal at 42:20.
 
Junior forward Dara Demich nearly tied the contest just over a minute later when she placed a shot to the right side of ESU's goal, but Warrior goalkeeper Jules Harris made a diving stop to knock the ball away to help East Stroudsburg maintain its 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
 
East Stroudsburg added its second goal of the contest 10 minutes into second half when Hughes beat Rock freshman goalie Charlotte Elrod at 55:52.
 
Slippery Rock had numerous scoring chances over the final 30 minutes of regulation. Harris just beat Demich to a loose ball on a corner in the 62nd minute, freshman forward Skye Kramer pushed a shot just wide in a one-on-one showdown against Harris at 74:13 and Demich hit the post after beating two defenders on a terrific 50-yard run in the 80th minute.
 
Demich and sophomore midfielder Tess Keeley each placed shots on goal in the final 10 minutes of play, but Harris saved both attempts to give East Stroudsburg the 2-0 victory.

Demich finished the contest with a game-high eight shots, four of which were on goal. Kramer, Keeley and junior defender Sam Thornton took two shots as well for The Rock. Elrod made three saves in the defeat.
 
At halftime of Friday's game, Rock junior defender Megan Lenzi was named the 2015 PSAC Champion Women's Soccer Champion Scholar . Lenzi had the highest GPA of any player on the four teams that qualified for the semifinals. Lenzi has completed 75 credits towards her degree in physical education and currently holds a cumulative grade point average of 4.000.