SRU- Bloomsburg Live Stats |
SRU-Millersville Live Stats
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University field hockey team will play back-to-back road games against nationally ranked opponents this weekend, making trips to No. 2 Bloomsburg Friday and No. 6 Millersville Saturday.
Game time is set for 2 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.
The games will mark three straight games against top-ranked teams for SRU, which played No. 1 Shippensburg in its last match.
A brief preview of Slippery Rock's games this weekend can be found below.
Live Coverage: Both the Bloomsburg and Millersville sports information offices will provide a live statistics feed of their respective games at the links above.
Scouting The Rock: Slippery Rock enters this weekend with a 3-1 overall record. The Rock suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday when No. 1 Shippensburg edged held off a late rally to secure a 2-1 win.
Kaitlin McGinnis leads SRU with 17 shots, 12 on target and four goals, including a game winner.
Courtney Bradshaw and
Kelsey Gustafson each have two goals on the year and
Lauren Geiser,
Allison Shade and
Rebecca Williams all have one goal.
Ally Banks has two assists to cap the top scorers for The Rock.
Courtney Lee has made all four starts in goal for Slippery Rock and has posted a 3-1 record with one shutout. She has allowed three goals for a 0.80 goals against average and has made 17 saves for a .850 save percentage.
Scouting the Huskies: The No. 2 team in the country, Bloomsburg is 4-1 on the year. Its only loss came Tuesday at home against defending national champion West Chester, 2-1. The Huskies have outscored their opponents 20-6, outshot them 115-44 and have five players with multiple goals in the five games.
Senior Jenna DiSabatino leads Bloomsburg with 25 shots, 18 shots on goal and seven goals, including one game-winner. Brook Simonovich has started in all five games and has added four goals and one assist. Freshman Gabriana Nisiotis has two defensive saves to lead the defense.
Junior goalie Megan Eppley has started every game for the Huskies and has 22 saves for a .786 save percentage. She has allowed six goals on the year with a 1.25 goals against average and has posted a 4-1 record.
Scouting the Marauders: Millersville has faced ranked opponents in all five of its matches thus far this season. The Marauders are 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC-East after they beat Kutztown Tuesday, ending a 10-year drought vs. the Golden Bears.
The Marauders have a balanced attack this season with goals being scored by 11 different players. Samantha Ruane and Ashley Weber are leading the team with two goals and are the only players with more than one.
Sophomore Lauren Sotzin is 3-2 in goal for Millersville with one shutout. She has recorded 18 saves for a.783 save percentage and has a 1.40 goals against average, letting in five goals.
Head Coaches: Julie Swiney is in her third season at the helm for SRU. She has led The Rock to back-to-back six-win seasons and their first PSAC playoff appearance since 1987. Swiney joined Slippery Rock after serving four years as American International's head coach from 2006-2009. A 2003 graduate of The College of William and Mary, Swiney was a three-year starter for the Tribe.
Nikki Rhoads, in her third season, has coached Bloomsburg to back-to-back PSAC titles in her first two seasons and was named PSAC-East Coach of the Year both years. In 2011, Rhoads guided the Huskies to a 19-1 record, had the nation's best GAA (0.54), shutouts per game (0.50), save percentage (.871) and winning percentage (.950). Before joining Bloomsburg, Rhoads spent two years as head coach at Alvernia University. She graduated from Bloomsburg in 2004, where she was a two-time national champion and three-time All-American.
Shelly Behrens is in her fifth season at the helm for Millersville. She led the team to a win over then-No. 1 East Stroudsburg in 2011 and her 2010 team closed the season with a 9-11 record, tying the 2009 squad with most wins in a season in more than a decade. Behrens received a bachelor's degree from Old Dominion in 1988. She was a standout player, serving as the starting goalkeeper for the Monarchs for four-straight seasons.
Series History: Bloomsburg: Slippery Rock is 1-36 all-time vs. Bloomsburg with its only win coming in 1984. The last meeting came a season ago where Bloomsburg defeated The Rock 4-0 and outshot them 18-1.
Millersville: SRU is 10-21-2 all-time vs. the Marauders. Their last meeting came last year when Millersville edged Slippery Rock, 2-0.
