Sept. 20, 2007

Final Stats

Slippery Rock, Pa. - Ashley Paganie took a corner-kick assist from Jaimi Wilson and scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute of action Thursday night to give the third-ranked Rock a 3-2 win over visiting Indiana U. of Pa. in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action.

The win on Bob DiSpirito Field at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium improved SRU's overall record to 8-1 and gave the Green and White a perfect 5-0 record at the midway mark of the PSAC-West season.

The division-leading Rock enjoys a five-point (15-10) lead over second-place Edinboro (3-2-2, 3-1-1 PSAC-W) and an eight-point cushion over third-place Clarion (3-4-2, 2-2-1 PSAC-W).

Indiana (4-3, 2-3 PSAC-W), the defending PSAC-West champion and 2007 preseason favorite, ends the first half of conference action in fourth place with six points, followed by Lock Haven (4-6-1, 1-3-1 PSAC-W) with four and California (0-7-1, 0-4-1 PSAC-W) with one.

PSAC standings are determined on a points system that awards three points for a division win and one point for a tie.

The top three teams in the division at the end of regular-season play will advance to the conference playoffs.

The Rock seeks a fifth straight trip to the conference semifinals this fall with the ultimate goal of winning its third PSAC title in the last five seasons. SRU won the top prize in both 2003 and 2005.

The Green and White take a break from PSAC-West competition to host Millersville (0-5-2) in a PSAC "crossover" game at noon Saturday before visiting California on Wednesday.

The Rock enjoyed a 2-0 lead 20 minutes into Thursday night's game, only to see Indiana roar back to tie the score 15 minutes later.

Meghan McGrath scored her seventh goal of the season off an assist from Danielle Cooper in the fourth minute of action, then added her eighth tally of the season 16 minutes later off assists from Melisa Sharek and Courtney Hoover.

Indiana trimmed the deficit in half with a penalty-shot goal by Carina Honeygosky in the 25th minute of action and then tied the score at 2-2 with a goal in the 35th minute.

The tying goal came when Ashley Moyer, after having a shot rejected by Rock goalie Lauren McManus, collected the loose ball and deposited it in the goal. Sarah Romasco was credited with an assist on the goal.

The score remained knotted at 2-2 for the next 53 minutes of action, until Paganie arched a left-footed shot just out of the reach of Indiana goalie Kelsey Dowling for the game-inning tally.

The Rock outshot Indiana by a 26-11 margin and had a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal.

McManus recorded two saves en route to her sixth win in seven decisions this fall. Dowling recorded six saves for Indiana.