Live Stats  I  PSAC Tournament Bracket  I  SRU Stats  I  Ship Stats
 
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University field hockey team begins its run in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday at No. 3 Shippensburg in the opening round of the 2014 PSAC Tournament from Robb Sports Complex.
 
Live Coverage: The Shippensburg sports information office will provide live statistics of Tuesday's showdown at the link above. Updates will also be available on the official SRU athletics Twitter page (@Rock_Athletics).
 
Tickets: Admission has been set by the PSAC at $7 for adults and $2 for students. Any students of PSAC-member institutions, however, receive free admission with their student identification card.
 
How They Got Here: Slippery Rock reeled off a program-best five-game win streak late in the season to surge into the PSAC playoff picture. The Rock dropped their final three games, however, to finish the season at 9-9 overall. SRU earned the sixth seed in the conference tournament after compiling a league record of 7-7.
 
Shippensburg closed the season at 14-3 overall and 11-3 in the PSAC to claim the third seed, and the right to host the quarterfinal game. The third-ranked Raiders have won three in a row and six of their last seven contests.
 
All-Time Series: Shippensburg holds a 38-6-1 advantage in the all-time series over Slippery Rock dating back to 1979. The Raiders have won 26 straight contests since The Rock last recorded a win in the series, a 3-1 decision in 1998.
 
How They Matchup: The Raiders swept a pair of regular-season meetings against The Rock earlier this fall by scores of 2-0 (Box Score) in Slippery Rock and 3-0 (Box Score) in Shippensburg.
 
The Raiders have posted advantages in penalty corners (23-1) and total shots (30-4) in the first two meetings with SRU this season.
 
Both teams are stout defensively. Shippensburg has allowed just nine goals in 17 games and is on pace to set a school record for the fewest goals allowed in a season. Meanwhile, Slippery Rock has allowed more than two goals in a game just twice this season.
 
Scouting The Rock: Slippery Rock opponents have edged The Rock in goals scored (26-24), total shots (194-175) and penalty corners (162-125) through 18 games this fall. SRU ranks 8th in the PSAC with a 1.33 scoring average and has limited opponents to a 1.44 goals against average, good for 4th in the conference and 6th nationally.
 
The senior-duo of Kelsey Gustafson and Allison Shade has paced the offensive attack for The Rock. Gustafson has tallied a team-best five goals and an assist, while Shade has notched four goals and a pair of assists. Michelle Couch has tallied three goals and a pair of assists, followed by Megan McKay with a goal and team-high five assists. Freshmen Kailee Krupski and Kylie McCarty have each recorded three goals, while Anna Swearingen rounds out the top point scorers with a pair of goals.
 
Baylee Childress ranks 1st in the PSAC and 4th in the NCAA with nine defensive saves and anchors a strong defensive unit along with Gustafson, whose six defensive saves rank 2nd in the PSAC and 10th nationally. Kayla Mack adds three denials to round out the stingy defensive line that leads all of NCAA D-II in defensive saves.
 
Carlee DuMars has played every minute in goal and is 9-9 with a 1.37 goals against average and 0.766 save percentage. She has recorded three shutouts, 85 saves and allowed 26 goals in just over 1330 minutes of action. DuMars ranks 4th in the PSAC in total saves and goals against average, while her save percentage ranks 6th in the conference.
 
Scouting the Raiders: Shippensburg has posted advantages in goals scored (41-9), total shots (297-127) and penalty corners (176-104) through 17 games over opponents this fall. The Raiders rank 5th in the PSAC with a 2.41 scoring average and have limited opponents to a 0.53 goals against average, good for 2nd nationally.
 
Tori Ricker paces the offensive attack with 10 goals and an assist, followed by Emily Barnard with eight goals and three assists. Katelyn Grazan has tallied five goals and five assists, followed by Kendall Beck with four goals and an assist. Cassie Rawa adds three goals, followed by Suzanne Muller, Lizzie Frombach and Molly Stuart with a pair of goals apiece.
 
Ally Mooney has started 15 games in goal and is 12-3 with a 0.61 goals against average and 0.859 save percentage. She has recorded seven shutouts, 55 saves and allowed nine goals in just under 1030 minutes of action. Mooney ranks 2nd nationally in goals against average and save percentage.
 
Head coaches: In her fifth season at the helm for Slippery Rock, head coach Julie Swiney has led The Rock to five consecutive six-win seasons since 2010. After not reaching the PSAC playoffs since 1987, Swiney led The Rock to its first ever playoff berth in 2011 and again in 2012 and 2014. This fall's squad topped the fourth-best single season win total in program history, also set under Swiney in 2012, with their ninth win in 2014. 
 
Shippensburg is competing in the PSAC Tournament for the 15th time in 16 years under NFHCA Hall of Fame head coach Bertie Landes. 2014 also marks the 14th straight season that Landes has guided Ship to a top-3 finish in the PSAC regular season standings.
 
Up Next: The winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal will play No. 2 Millersville at 3:30 p.m. in PSAC semifinal action Friday from West Chester, Pa.