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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University field hockey team fell 2-0 to No. 3 Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium Tuesday afternoon.
 
The third-ranked Raiders entered the contest firing on all cylinders as they carried possession from start to finish. However, The Rock met the Raiders head on with a stingy defense and held Shippensburg scoreless through the first 20 minutes of action.
 
The Raiders peppered the Slippery Rock cage with shots, but The Rock's defensive line held firm and swarmed around the ball. After a pair of impressive defensive saves from Baylee Childress and Kelsey Gustafson, a Rock defender was called for a foul in the box that awarded a penalty stroke to Suzanne Muller, who blasted the stroke into the back of the cage for a 1-0 Shippensburg lead in the 21^st minute.
 
Shippensburg's offense was shutout for the next 40 minutes by a stifling defensive effort from Slippery Rock, before adding an insurance goal in the closing minutes of the game. The Raiders capitalized on their 11^th corner of the match as Emily Barnard gave the visitors a 2-0 lead by deflecting a blast from the top of the circle past the outstretched pads of the SRU keeper in the 62^nd minute.
 
The Raiders finished the game with advantages of 10-0 in shots, 9-0 in shots on goal and 12-1 in penalty corners.
 
Slippery Rock, who fell out of the updated NFHCA top-10 earlier today, has narrowly lost four consecutive matches by a combined total of five goals.
 
Junior goalkeeper Carlee DuMars was tagged with the loss to drop to 3-4 on the season after allowing two goals on ten shots and four saves.
 
Ally Mooney improved to 4-1 on the season after posting a shutout without having to make a save. Muller and Barnard each tallied a goal, while Lucy Kauffman was credited with an assist.
 
Freshman Kayla Mack, Childress and Gustafson each tallied a defensive save in the defeat for SRU.
 
After opening the season 3-0, The Rock now sits at 3-4 overall and 1-2 in PSAC action with the loss. No. 3 Shippensburg improves to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in league play with the hard fought victory.
 
Slippery Rock returns to action Sept. 28, with another top-5 showdown at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. The Rock will host No. 5 East Stroudsburg in PSAC action at 1 p.m. Sunday.