KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team picked up a crucial Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference victory Monday afternoon in dramatic fashion with a 7-6 overtime win at Kutztown University.
 
The Rock trailed 6-5 with under two minutes to play before Tori Penders scored off a pass from Tia Torchia to tie the game at 6-6 with just 1:12 to play. SRU won the final draw control of regulation, but couldn't get a shot off before time expired, sending the game to sudden-victory overtime.
 
Kutztown won the draw in overtime and had a chance at the game-winner, but SRU goalie Emily Bitka made a save on KU's leading scorer Sarah Gabriele just 1:05 into the extra period. The Rock cleared the zone successfully and capitalized on a Kutztown foul when ShyAnne Toomer fired home a free-position shot for the game-winner 2:19 into the overtime.
 
The victory is significant as Monday's game featured two teams battling for playoff contention in the crowded PSAC standings. The Rock improve to 8-3 overall and 4-3 in PSAC games with the win, while Kutztown drops to 6-6 overall and 3-4 in PSAC games.
 
Monday's win marked the fourth straight for Slippery Rock over Kutztown with the last three meetings between the two teams being decided by just four total goals. SRU also posted a 12-11 overtime win at Kutztown in 2016 and was victorious 5-3 at home in 2017.
 
Bitka was exceptional in goal for Slippery Rock on the way to improving to 8-3 on the year and 3-0 over the last week. She finished the game with 11 saves, three caused turnovers, five ground balls and held Kutztown to just 2-of-6 in free position shots. Over the last seven days, Bitka went 3-0 with a .635 save percentage and a 6.47 goals against average with 20 ground balls and seven caused turnovers. In the process, she broke her own SRU single-season record for ground balls (62 in 2017) and now has 65 with six regular season games still to play this spring.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game with a 29-19 margin in shots, but couldn't capitalize on that offensive zone advantage after firing 10 shots off target. The Rock's defensive effort caused 24 of Kutztown's 29 total turnovers and SRU finished the game with a 36-26 advantage in ground balls. The Golden Bears posted an 8-6 edge in draw controls.  
 
Torchia caused four turnovers to lead the field players, while defenders Rachel Shaw and Raelyn Waite were each credited with three caused turnovers.
 
The game-tying goal from Penders and the winner from Toomer marked the only points of the day for the two sophomores. Jasey Sanders led the attack with two goals, while Torchia added one goal and one assist. Bre Vodde and Caitlyn Byerly each scored one goal and Sami Gentzler handed out one assist to cap the point scorers.
 
Kutztown was led by Makayla Bowman with four goals and Sarah Gabriele with two goals and one assist as those two combined for all of the Golden Bear points in the game. Haley Kline was strong in goal all day and finished with a game-high 12 saves in the losing effort.
 
Slippery Rock will wrap up a three-game road swing when it travels to Edinboro University Wednesday for a 4 p.m. game.
 

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