SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University field hockey team had one of its best performances of the season in a tight 3-2 loss to No. 5 Shippensburg University Friday afternoon at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
Slippery Rock closes its season with a 5-13 overall record and a 2-8 mark in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition. Shippensburg will take a 12-5 overall record and an 8-2 PSAC record into the upcoming PSAC Tournament.
 
SRU went toe-to-toe with the nationally ranked raiders for all 60 minutes Friday in a contest that was up for grabs all the way to the final buzzer.
 
Jazmin Petrantonio, the nation's leader in both goals scored and total points, gave Shippensburg an early 1-0 advantage when she dribbled through SRU's defense off of a corner to beat goalkeeper Maddie Murphy for the game's opening goal 7:41 into the contest.
 
Undeterred, Slippery Rock quickly answered back three minutes later when Lauren Marks corralled a loose ball to slip a shot by Megan Lay to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the second quarter.
 
As they did for the majority of the afternoon, The Rock's defense withstood a barrage of shots from the Shippensburg attack in the second quarter including a stretch of eight shots in a four-minute stretch that were all stopped by Hannah Nurse to send the game into halftime tied 1-1.
 
Jessie Trube gave the upset-minded Rock a 2-1 lead coming out of the halftime break when she gathered a save by Lay off of a Kalie Reed attempt and then promptly fired a shot by the Shippensburg goalie to give SRU a one-goal lead.
 
Following the score, Murphy, who re-entered the game to start the half, made one crucial save while the rest of The Rock's defense cleared three Raider corners to send SRU into the fourth quarter with a one-goal lead.
 
However, Slippery Rock's upset bid was halted in the final 15 minutes when Petrantonio first scored the equalizer in the 48th minute before setting up the game-winning goal from Emily Stauffer with just 1:41 remaining in overtime. SRU was unable to record a final shot following Stauffer's goal as Shippensburg escaped with the 3-2 win.
 
Trube's goal was her team-leading eighth of the year. She ends a sophomore season in which she totaled 18 points on eight goals and two assists. Marks' goal was her third of 2019.
 
Marks and Trube tied for the team lead with two shots on goal Friday. Reed, Kayla Ulrich and Lacy Bayley all posted one attempt on target apiece.
 
Murphy and Nurse were both solid in front of the cage against a stout Shippensburg offense. Murphy made four saves while allowing one goal over 30 minutes of competition while Nurse stopped 10 shots in addition to surrendering a pair of goals over 30 minutes as well.
 
Holly Stiller collected her fifth defensive save of the season in the loss. One of the top defenders in the PSAC, she ends the regular season tied for the league lead in defensive saves.
 
Shippensburg finished the game holding advantages over The Rock in total shots (21-9), shots on goal (18-7) and penalty corners (11-7).
 
Friday's game marked the final collegiate appearances for The Rock's senior class of Reed, Jordan Barnes and Brenna McGovern-Lind. SRU will return nine starters and nine reserves from this year's team in 2020.
 
 

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