SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University field hockey team lost to No. 3 Shippensburg University, 5-2, Saturday in non-conference play at the Robb Sports Complex.

The loss dropped Slippery Rock's record to 4-3 for the year, while Shippensburg improved to 5-1 on the season.

Senior Kailee Krupski recorded her first goal of the season for Slippery Rock during the contest, while freshman Kayla Ulrich recorded her team-leading fifth goal of the year. Ulrich's five goals have her tied with recent graduate Megan McKay for second in The Rock's freshman record book.

Courtney Page also recorded her first assist of the season on a drop-off to Ulrich.

Seven players registered shots for SRU in the game. Ulrich led the team with three, followed by Liz Wolfe with two. Krupski, Abby McKay, Hannah Simone, Kayla Mack and Allison Grant all added one shot apiece.

After starting and playing goalkeeper Maddie Murphy the entirety of the previous two games, The Rock went back to its previous format of starting Nicole Bream and subbing in Murphy for the second half. Both keepers had a difficult time against Shippensburg's high-powered offense, who came into the game ranked fifth in Division II in goals per game (3.80). Bream allowed two goals and recorded six saves during her 35 minutes of first-half play, while Murphy allowed three goals and recorded two saves after subbing in for the second half.

Shippensburg recorded two first half goals, both of which came from forward Emily Barnard. The second half was much more eventful, with Shippensburg adding three more goals and Slippery Rock registering two of its own. Shippensburg's Brooke Sheibley made it 3-0 less than nine minutes into the second half before Slippery Rock's Krupski gave SRU its first goal of the game in the 55th minute. The Raiders answered back quickly when Mary Spisak made it 4-1 less than two minutes later. Spisak added another goal at the 63:56 mark before Ulrich recorded the final goal of the game in the 67th minute.

Two goalkeepers saw time for the Raiders. Ally Mooney started the contest and allowed one goal while recording two saves during her 47:38 minutes of play. Catherine Matuszko then entered the game, allowing one goal while also recording a save during her 22:22 minutes of play.

For the game, Shippensburg led Slippery Rock in shots (23-10), shots on goal (13-5) and penalty corners (14-5).

Up next, Slippery Rock returns home for a non-conference matchup against Seton Hill University 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.


To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics), Instagram (RockAthletics) and Snapchat (@RockAthletics).