Live Audio  |  2012 SRU Stats  |  2012 Kutztown Stats


Live Coverage: The Kutztown University sports information office will provide a live Internet audio broadcast of the game at the link above.

Rankings: Slippery Rock moved up five places to No. 5 in this week's NSCAA/Continental Tire Division II national rankings. The Rock is also moved up to the top spot in the Atlantic Region rankings. Kutztown is not ranked nationally and is currently ranked No. 9 in the region.

Scouting The Rock: Slippery Rock has taken a week off since its last game and will bring a 3-0 overall record and a 1-0 PSAC mark into Saturday's game. The Rock has not allowed a goal in three games, posting shutouts over Wheeling Jesuit, Mercyhurst and Charleston. Slippery Rock is outscoring opponents 9-0 and outshooting the opposition 37-23.

Lucy Hannon and Stephanie Buckenheimer lead the team with two goals and two assists each, while Lauren Impey has added one goal and one assist. Caitlin Binder  has three assists to lead the team in that category and Shelby Ward, Crysta Ganter, Alexandra Brosky and Izabel Scott all have on goal on the year. Leslie Henny has one assist to cap the point scorers.

Dana O'Neill has played every minute in goal this season and is unblemished with a 3-0 record, three shutouts, a 0.0 goals against average and a 1.000 save percentage.

Scouting the Golden Bears: Kutztown opened the year by receiving votes in the preseason Division II poll and was picked to finish third in the PSAC, one spot ahead of SRU. The Golden Bears opened the season with an overtime loss to Tusculum before rebounding with wins over Concord and Shippensburg, dropping a home game to LIU Post and defeating Lock Haven to post a 3-2 overall record and a 2-0 mark in league play.

The Golden Bears are outscoring opponents 9-6 and outshooting the opposition 93-20. They have allowed just 15 shots on goal through five games.

Crystal Zerbe leads the team in scoring with two goals. Taylor Higgins has one goal and one assist and is the only player on the team other than Zerbe with more than two points. Six other players have tallied one goal.

Head Coaches: Noreen Herlihy is in her 18th season at the helm of the Slippery Rock program. She has led the team to 16 consecutive winning seasons with 10 or more wins and owns a career record of 214-97-24. The 16 consecutive winning seasons rank eighth all-time in Division II history. Herlihy is a 1992 graduate of Mercyhurst College with a bachelor's degree in sports medicine. She also owns a master's degree in sports administration from Slippery Rock.

Erik Burstein is in his sixth season as the head coach at Kutztown, where he has led the team to five consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins. His 2011 team set the school record for wins in a season and finished the year at 16-6. He currently has a record of 70-31-9 in his tenure at Kutztown. Burstein is a 2002 graduate of Richard Stockton College.

Series History: Slippery Rock and Kutztown have met 17 times in the series, with The Rock holding a 10-6-1 advantage. The series heated up last season when the teams met three times, with Kutztown winning in the regular season at home and then eliminating Slippery Rock from the PSAC playoffs in the semifinal round. The Rock got revenge the next week, knocking Kutztown out of the NCAA playoffs with a second round win on the road at KU.

Last Meeting: (Box Score) No. 23 Slippery Rock handed No. 15 Kutztown a 2-1 defeat at Kutztown Nov. 13, 2011 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Rock held the Golden Bears off the scoreboard for the entire game until a penalty kick in the 90th minute capped the scoring.

Kutztown finished the game with advantages of 14-9 in total shots, 9-7 in shots on goal and 14-0 in corner kicks. Lisa Rodgers made eight saves in goal to earn the win for Slippery Rock, while Casey Behrendt took the loss for Kuztown after making five saves.

Kara Mullins opened the scoring in the 18th minute off an assist from Lucy Hannon to put SRU up 1-0. Shelby Ward converted off an assist from Mullins in the 69th minute to make it 2-0 and Carolynne Kahl finished the game's scoring when she was awarded a penalty kick with nine seconds remaining in the game.

The win advanced Slippery Rock to the NCAA Round of 16 for the first time in program history and ended Kutztown's season with a 16-6 record.