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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The ninth-ranked Slippery Rock University field hockey team suffered a heartbreaking, 3-2 loss to No. 1 West Chester at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium Friday afternoon.

The visiting Golden Rams scored two goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to come from behind for the win.
The Rock's Allison Shade scored a goal to tie it 1-1 with under a minute left in the first half and scored again just a minute into the second half, giving SRU the lead 2-1 before West Chester came from behind to snatch the victory away from Slippery Rock.

The Rock falls to 6-4 overall and remain 3-1 in the PSAC-West while West Chester improves to 8-1 (4-0 PSAC-East).

West Chester started strong to open up the game and had Slippery Rock on its heels early. The Golden Rams took six shots on goal in the first seven and a half minutes. WCU finally got one past SRU goalie Courtney Lee in the eighth minute when Michele Schrift scored to make it 1-0.

After West Chester's goal, Slippery Rock settled down and began to show why it was the ninth-ranked team in the country. It became a back-and-forth game midway through the first half but The Rock began to gain control toward the end of the half.

SRU took all seven first half shots under the 10 minute mark and Shade scored off an assist from Gina Smarelli to knot the game 1-1 going into halftime.

Slippery Rock continued their momentum and came out of halftime aggressive. Shade scored her sixth goal of the season and second of the game to give The Rock the lead 2-1.

West Chester couldn't find the answer to Slippery Rock's defense midway through the second half. Grace Bathurst and Baylee Childress keyed a defense that made play after play, preventing WCU from any good looks at the goal.

West Chester gained momentum in the 55th minute when Kayla Gluchowski received the ball toward the end line and found the back of the cage by chipping the ball high over Lee's head and in to tie the game 2-2.

WCU continued to press and Megan Callanan scored the game winning goal off cross from Kelsi Lykens with just over five minutes left in the game.

Slippery Rock was awarded a penalty corner just before time expired and with double zeros on the clock, West Chester was able to clear the ball to secure the victory.

The Golden Rams outshot The Rock 22-10 and had the edge 12-9 in penalty corners.

Lee made eight saves on the day for SRU and falls to 6-4 on the year while West Chester goalie Kristen Arnold made five saves to earn the win and improve her record to 8-1.

Slippery Rock is back in action Saturday afternoon when it hosts Kutztown at 1 p.m. at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.