KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team won one of its most important Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference games of the season Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 victory against Kutztown University. The win clinched the third seed for SRU in the upcoming Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
As the third seed, Slippery Rock earns the right to host its first round game 1 p.m. Tuesday against sixth seed Shippensburg at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

Slippery Rock defeated Shippensburg, 4-0, earlier in the season at James Egli Field. The Rock and Red Raiders coaching staffs are very familiar with each other as SRU head coach Jessica Griggs and assistant coach Mark Sappington spent a combined six seasons on Shippensburg head coach Rob Fulton's staff from 2010-13.
 
In addition to its conference tournament implications, Saturday's win also improved SRU's record to 12-5-1 on the year overall and 11-4-1 in league play. Kutztown drops to 11-5-1 and 11-5 overall in conference games with the loss.
 
Slippery Rock was led on the day by senior midfielder Caitlin Binder and junior forward Dara Demich. Binder had a goal and an assist while Demich scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
 
Binder now ranks second for SRU on the year in assists (four), third in total points (12) and fourth in goals (four). Demich's goal was her team-leading 11th of the season.
 
Demich also placed a team-high four shots on goal Saturday. Binder, freshman forward Skye Kramer and freshman midfielder Mariah Varner added one shot on goal apiece for The Rock as well.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Charlotte Elrod finished one save short of her season-high with six stops over 90 minutes.
 
Elrod made four saves in the first half to keep the game tied at 0-0 before Binder came up with a huge goal with just 42 seconds remaining in the opening half to send The Rock into halftime leading Kutztown 1-0.
 
Slippery Rock wasted little time extending its lead to two goals early in the second half when Demich finished off a three-on-one break in the 56th minute. SRU's 2-0 lead would be short-lived as Kutztown battled back to score a goal of its own when Diana Malanga converted her sixth goal of 2015 to trim The Rock's lead to 2-1 with 29 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
However, any thoughts of a Kutztown comeback were put to rest as The Rock's strong defense, which has only allowed 13 goals all season, fended off six Kutztown attempts over the remainder of the game en route to the 2-1 victory.
 
Slippery Rock has now earned six consecutive bids to the PSAC Tournament. SRU is 4-1 in home conference tournament games dating back to the 2005 season.