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CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team made its first victory of 2014 an impressive one by defeating rival California (Pa.), which entered the match as the sixth ranked team in the nation, 1-0 on the road Wednesday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference matchup.
 
"We're very young and we didn't get off to the start we wanted, but we knew how important this game was," Slippery Rock head coach Noreen Herlihy said. "California has a veteran squad with a lot of upperclassmen that have been in deep postseason runs. We asked a lot from our very young defenders tonight and they stepped up in a big way. To post a clean sheet tonight on the road at the sixth ranked team in the country with a group as young as we have is an outstanding result. I am very proud of our team and the way we performed tonight."
 
The win improves The Rock's record to 1-1-1 on the season overall and in league play. The loss drops the Vulcans' record to 2-1-1 overall and 2-1-0 in PSAC competition. The triumph extends Slippery Rock's winning streak over California to five games; SRU defeated the Vulcans twice a season ago including, a 3-0 win in the NCAA Atlantic Regional championship game.
 
Making The Rock's road victory all the more impressive is the fact that since the 2010 season, California is a stellar 45-4-4 at home and Slippery Rock has been responsible for three the losses.
 
The duo of Dara Demich and Caitlin Binder made all the difference Wednesday night. With the game tied at 0-0 and in the 88^th minute Slippery Rock earned a corner kick that Binder took, placing the ball to Demich who beat Vulcan goalie Meghan Jayes with a shot that hit the top right part of the goal and gave The Rock a 1-0 lead at the 87.18 mark in the half.
 
The Slippery Rock defense proceeded to fend off an urgent California attack over the final two minutes of play with Rock goalie Annabelle Hegeman stopping one shot while two final attempts sailed wide to give SRU its one-goal win.
 
The shutout was Hegeman's second of the year. The Rock's defense also successfully cleared six California corner kicks. Prior to tonight's game, the Vulcans had scored eight goals over its first three games.

Slippery Rock ended the contest holding an 11-8 advantage in total shots, while both squads attempted six shots on goal.
 
Assisting Demich and Binder on the SRU attack was Sam Thornton, who took a team-high four shots. Leslie Henny and Brooke Edwards also added two shots each, with Allison Harbart and Tess Keeley taking one shot apiece as well.
 
Slippery Rock was the aggressor for much of the night. SRU would fire off three shots on goal in the first half before California was able to break The Rock defense for its first shot of the night, an attempt that sailed wide, with under a minute left until halftime.
 
Coming out of the break, The Rock continued to fire at the California net by way of Edwards launching two shots in the period's opening four minutes. However, the Vulcans managed to turn away each Rock attempt before SRU drew its final corner kick that led to Demich's successful strike. The score was her fourth career goal against California in just three games.
 
Kaeli Tuinstra took three shots to pace the Vulcans. Jayes stopped six Slippery Rock shots in the defeat.
 
Slippery Rock will look to build on its momentum when it hosts Davis & Elkins Saturday at 1 p.m. in its only non-conference competition at James Egli Field.