SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Sofia Harrison and Kayla Swope scored back-to-back goals to secure a 2-1 victory for the Slippery Rock University women's soccer team over Indiana University (Pa.) in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium Tuesday afternoon.
 
With the win, Slippery Rock advances to the PSAC Tournament semifinal round for the first time since the 2015 season. The win was the 16th of the season for SRU, the most its recorded since 2011.
 
IUP ends its season with a 10-9-0 overall record and an 8-7-0 mark in conference play.
 
The victory over Indiana also marks The Rock's first PSAC Tournament victory since defeating Shippensburg University, 1-0, in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 conference tournament.
 
Today's win guarantees SRU, the No. 1 seed in the PSAC West, will host the semifinals on Friday and the championship game on Sunday. 
 
The win comes one day before the next set of NCAA Regional Rankings are released by the NCAA Division ll Women's Soccer Committee. Slippery Rock was ranked third for the second-straight week in the last set of rankings released on Nov. 6.
 
The regional rankings are the only official ranking used by the NCAA to determine which teams from each of the eight regions will qualify for the 56-team NCAA Division ll playoffs. The top six teams in the Atlantic Region in the final set of rankings will earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The contest opened with heavy snow filling the air of Mihalik-Thompson Stadium, blanketing the field as both teams broke the huddle for the highly anticipated quarterfinal match.
 
IUP gained an early lead when Taylor Karan netted a pass from Mahogany Willis in the 16th minute, beating a scrambling SRU defense to give the Crimson Hawks the early 1-0 advantage.
 
As the snow began to die down, The Rock offense came alive with Harrison lining a shot from 16 yards out to tie the game at 1-1 with an unassisted score in the 26th minute. 
 
Slippery Rock continued to pressure the Indiana defense immediately following the goal, leading to a shot from Swope which found the back of the net on a feed from Harrison to give SRU the 2-1 lead in the 28th minute.
 
The score proved to be the game-winner due to the SRU defense who like the snow, stormed back and stifled the Crimson Hawk offense. The Rock continually sent any ball in the SRU zone back to the IUP side of the field, not giving an inch of dirt.

Due to the effort from its defense, Slippery Rock maintained possession through nearly the entire contest.

Slippery Rock allowed only three shots IUP shots through the remainder of the contest, only one of which was a legitimate scoring threat which was turned away by Rock goalkeeper Emma Yoder. 

Yoder finished the contest with one save and one goal allowed while Madeline Smakulski added 10 saves while allowing two goals in the losing effort.
 
SRU held the advantage over Indiana in total shots (23-5), shots on goal (13-2) and corner kick attempts (11-1).
 
Harrison led the way with a game-high six total shots with four being on goal, Rachel Edge had the second-most total shots in the contest with five.
 
Slippery Rock will return to action when it hosts the winner of the East Stroudsburg - Millersville contest 12 p.m. Friday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
GAME NOTES
•  Tuesday's contest against IUP marked the fifth game this season that Slippery Rock had not scored first and still managed a victory.
 
•  With 23 total shots against Indiana, SRU now has a 8-0-0 record when it finishes with 20 or more shots.
 
•  The 2-1 win marks the 15th game this season The Rock has scored two or more goals. SRU is undefeated when it scores two or more times at 15-0-0 while it has a 1-3-0 record in games it scores only one goal.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
GOAL: IUP 1, ROCK 0 '16; Taylor Karan (Mahogany Willis)
GOAL: ROCK 1, IUP 1 '26; Sofia Harrison (Unassisted)
GOAL: ROCK 2, IUP 1 '28; Kayla Swope (Sofia Harrison)


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