SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team saw its upset bid fall just short in a 12-11 defeat to No. 19 Indiana University (Pa.) Wednesday evening in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The loss drops The Rock to 7-4 overall and 3-3 in PSAC games. All four losses on the season have come to teams ranked in this week's Division II national rankings (No. 4 Rollins, No. 7 West Chester, No. 19 Indiana, No. 20 East Stroudsburg). Indiana improves to 8-4 overall and 6-1 in league games with the win.
 
The Crimson Hawks opened up a 6-3 lead midway through the first period, but Slippery Rock responded with a 4-0 run and closed the half on a 5-2 run to send the game to halftime tied at 8-8.
 
The Rock opened the second half with two more goals to take a 10-8 lead with 26:22 to play and cap a 7-2 run that spanned a total of 14:42.
 
Indiana made a goalkeeper change after the 10th Slippery Rock goal was scored and that move would pay dividends down the stretch. Angela Lontoc played the first 33:28 in goal and allowed 10 goals on 12 shots. She was replaced by Sarah Knotts, who earned the win after allowing one goal and making four saves in the final 26:22.
 
The Crimson Hawks put together a four-goal run over a stretch of eight minutes to retake the lead, 12-10, with 17:14 to play. Three of those four goals were scored on free position shots in what became a theme of the second half.
 
Slippery Rock was whistled for 29 fouls in the final 30 minutes and a total of 52 fouls in the game. Indiana cashed in with 13 free position attempts, eight free position goals and one man-up tally.
 
Despite the foul troubles, The Rock had chances as the game wound down. Erin Wilcox cut the deficit to 12-11 with 15:45 to play and the defense tightened and didn't allow another solid scoring chance.
 
Offensively, SRU had multiple chances, including three looks on goal. Knotts made all three saves, including one on a free position attempt, to keep her team out front. The Rock had two chances to set up a shot at tying the game in the final four minutes, but turned the ball over without getting a shot off each time.
 
Indiana finished the game with advantages of 26-17 in shots, 22-17 in ground balls and 14-11 in draw controls, while also going 14-of-16 on clear attempts. SRU was 17-of-21 on the clear.
 
Slippery Rock was paced by Wilcox with four goals, marking her sixth game this season with at least four tallies. She has now scored at least one goal in all 11 games this year and has scored multiple goals in 10 games. The four goals bring her career total to 123 and move her into a tie with Paige Costantino for the fourth most in program history.
 
Caitlynn Palladino and Chynna Chan each tallied two goals and Bre Vodde and Jasey Sanders found the back of the net once. Kaytlin Callaghan, Tia Torchia and Anna-Marie Warrington each had one assist to cap the point scorers.
 
Brittany Brewer and Danni Wilson each picked up three draw controls and Jordan Wagner made five saves in goal while also picking up a team-high five ground balls.
 
Indiana was led by Ally Burrows with five goals and Kim Hooven with three. Carissa Smith added two goals and Amy Weinberg chipped in two assists.
 
The road won't get any easier for Slippery Rock this weekend when it travels to No. 12 Lock Haven, the national runner-up in 2015. It will mark the second straight game against a nationally ranked opponent and third in the last four games for SRU. First draw is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.