Box Score

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – No. 8 Gannon rallied from a four-goal deficit in the first half to defeat Slippery Rock 18-11 Saturday in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division lacrosse match at Thompson Stadium.

Saturday's game was the final game of the season for Slippery Rock and was the final game of the regular season for Gannon, which will advance to the PSAC playoffs with the third seed in the western division.

Saturday's game also marked the end of the collegiate career for Rock senior Ashley Winkelspecht, who will graduate as the all-time record holder in career saves, games played, starts and minutes. She holds the PSAC record for saves in a single-season and ends her career ranked third all-time in PSAC history in saves with 826.

The Rock (7-10, 2-8 PSAC) scored the first goal of the game just 47 seconds in when Ariel Knox found the back of the net, but Gannon (11-6, 6-4 PSAC) answered back with five goals to take a 5-1 lead with 19:37 to play in the first half.

Slippery Rock responded with its own run of eight unanswered goals to jump out to a 9-5 lead with 4:25 to play in the half. Gannon battled back with three goals to close out the half trailing 9-8.

The Golden Knights kept the run going in the second half, scoring the first seven goals and finishing a 10-goal run to open a 15-9 lead with 14:43 to play. The Rock would add two more goals down the stretch, but could not close the gap as Gannon emerged with the 18-11 win.

SRU was led by a six-point effort from Casey Quinn, who scored five goals and handed out one assist. She also finished with team-highs of four ground balls, three draw controls and three caused turnovers.

Amy Halls scored two goals and handed out one assist. With her two goals, she finishes the season with 51 markers and moves into second on the all-time scoring ledger at SRU with 108 career goals.

Samantha Eddy scored two goals, while Alexis Slutsky and Ariel Knox each scored one goal and handed out one assist. Emma VanDenburg capped the scoring with one assist, while also finishing with three draw controls.

Winkelspecht took the loss, allowing 18 goals and recording 12 saves in her final appearance.

Gannon was led by a nine-goal effort from senior Taryn Millerd, who also finished with a game-high eight ground balls and six caused turnovers.

Rachel DerCola scored one goal and handed out four assists and Kayla Nelson handed out six assists to help lead the Golden Knight attack.

Acacia Cook earned the win in goal, allowing 11 goals and recording eight saves.

For the game, Gannon finished with advantages of 36-27 in total shots and 25-22 in ground balls while clearing successfully on 12-of-17 attempts. The Rock finished with a 17-15 advantage in draw controls and cleared the zone successfully 11-of-18 times.

Saturday's game marks the end of the season for SRU, which finishes with a 7-10 overall record, the most wins since the program returned to the varsity level in 2007 and the just the sixth time in the history of the program that the team has posted seven or more wins.


Notes: Third-year head coach Emily Hopkins announced the winners of the annual team awards at a picnic following the game ... the team awards are voted on by the players ... this year's team award winners were:

Rock Solid Award: Diana Krotec
Most Improved Player: Caitlin Cross and Ashley Macurdy
Defensive MVP: Brianne Dishong
Offensive MVP: Amy Halls
Team MVP: Casey Quinn