SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- Led by goals from sophomore Allison Grant and freshman Jordan Barnes, the Slippery Rock University field hockey team came away with a 2-0 win over Saint Thomas Aquinas Saturday evening.
 
Both Grant and Barnes earned their first goals of the season while senior Megan McKay passed out her first assist of the year on Barnes' goal. The offensive attack combined with a defensive effort that did not allow a shot on goal helped SRU improve to 1-0 overall on the season.
 
The Rock also received contributions from senior Renee Rosenblum, who had seven total shots and two shots on goal and junior Alyssa Castle, who had two shots on goal. Madison Krajewski came off the bench to post two shots on goal and Kayla Mack added one shot on goal as well.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock held advantages over Saint Thomas Aquinas in total shots (29-1), shots on goal (10-0) and penalty corners (13-1).

SRU attacked the Saint Thomas Aquinas goal early and often Saturday with six early shots before Grant broke through on shot number seven and beat Aquinas goalie Jessica Stewart at 24:42 to put Slippery Rock up 1-0 heading into halftime.
 
The Rock kept the pressure on in the second period and at 46:11  Barnes received a pass from McKay and proceeded to beat Stewart and give SRU a two-goal advantage with her first collegiate goal.
 
Slippery Rock closed out the win with 13 more shots, five of which were on goal, over the final 23 minutes of action en route to the victory.
 
Junior goalkeeper Nicole Bream made the first start of her Rock career in the shutout victory.

Slippery Rock has now earned shutout victories in two of its last three season-openers; The Rock also began the 2014 season with a 2-0 win against American International.

SRU closes out its opening weekend at American International 1 p.m. Sunday.