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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team will host No. 23 East Stroudsburg University in the semifinal round of the 2019 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament 12 p.m. Friday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV - "ROCK ATHLETICS DIGITAL NETWORK" APPS
• Fans can watch Friday's match live and on-demand for free on the Rock Athletics Digital Network, created and operated by the SRU athletic communication office.
 
• Search for Rock Athletics Digital Network in the app stores on Amazon Fire TV, Apple RV, Roku and Android TV devices. The streaming web player linked above will also integrate with Chrome Cast devices to allow viewers to cast the game to those devices.
 
TICKET PRICES
Students with valid PSAC school ID: Free
Adult General Admission: $10
Children/High School Students: $5

The facility rules and regulations for Tuesday's contest at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium can be found here. 

MATCH DETAILS
Opponent: East Stroudsburg University
Date: Nov. 15 – 12 p.m.
Location: Slippery Rock, Pa. l Mihalik-Thompson Stadium
Watch: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: East Stroudsburg leads 14-10-4
Last Played: Sept. 29, 2018 (ESU won on the road, 2-0)
 
ROCK PSAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Slippery Rock has won three PSAC Championships (2003, 2005 and 2012) with its last title coming in 2012. SRU has now qualified for the PSAC Tournament 17 times and has not missed out on appearing in the conference tournament since the 2009 season.
 
LAST MEETING
East Stroudsburg defeated Slippery Rock, 2-0, on Sept. 29, 2018 at James Egli Field. ESU opened the scoring in the 60th minute when Alex Pickett scored on a pass from Syd Hicks to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
 
ESU secured the 2-0 victory in the 72nd minute when Amy Strauser netted a pass from Mallory Johnson. Sofia Harrison led the way for the SRU offense with a team-high four shots.
 
SERIES HISTORY
East Stroudsburg leads the all-time series 14-10-4. The Rock owns a 6-5-1 record against the Warriors at home, although the two teams have split the last five matchups at home for SRU at 2-2-1.
 
ESU and Slippery Rock have met four times in the PSAC Tournament with the last meeting occurring in 2017. The last SRU victory over the Warriors came in the conference tournament came in a 3-0 victory during the 2012 PSAC Tournament semifinal.
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Slippery Rock entered the PSAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the PSAC Western Division and defeated Indiana in the quarterfinal round, 2-1, on Tuesday.
 
Having advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Western Division, SRU has earned the right to host both the semifinal and championship round of the PSAC Tournament.
 
East Stroudsburg entered the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed in the PSAC Eastern Division. ESU defeated second-seeded0 Millersville University, 1-0, on the road in overtime to advance to the PSAC Tournament semifinal.
 
The winner of Friday's semifinal contest will advance to the conference championship game to take on the winner of the Edinboro University and West Chester University matchup that will take place Friday at 2:30 p.m.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
Overall Record: 16-3-0
PSAC West Record: 14-2-0
PSAC Tournament Seed: No. 1
Last PSAC Title: 2012
Home Record: 9-1-0
Away Record: 7-2-0
Last Five Games: 4-1-0
Streak: W4
Head Coach: Jessica Griggs l Fifth Season at SRU (61-28-6)
 
SCOUTING THE ROCK
• LAST TIME OUT – Slippery Rock defeated Indiana University (Pa.), 2-1, in the PSAC Tournament quarterfinal round on back-to-back scores by Harrison and Kayla Swope.
 
The Crimson Hawks scored first in the 16th minute on a goal by Taylor Karan with Mahogany Willis providing the assist. SRU struck back in the 26th minute when Harrison netted an unassisted score to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Slippery Rock scored again in the 28th minute when Swope netted a pass from Harrison to give The Rock a 2-1 lead. The score ended up being the game-winner thanks to a strong defensive effort from SRU, allowing only three IUP shots the rest of the game.

• BUCK THE TREND - In the last three matchups between SRU and East Stroudsburg in the PSAC Tournament (2015-17), the Warriors have defeated The Rock in each contest. Slippery Rock will look to end that streak with its last victory over ESU in the conference tournament coming in the semifinal round of the 2013 PSAC Tournament.
 
• SEMIFINAL HISTORY – Before switching back to the division format prior to the 2019 season, Slippery Rock had advanced out of the semifinals and into the PSAC Championship game five times. The Rock's last victory in the semifinal round of the PSAC Tournament came in 2012 with a 3-0 win over East Stroudsburg. 
 
• REGIONAL RANKINGS – Slippery Rock was ranked second in the Atlantic Region in the third set of regional rankings unveiled Wednesday by the NCAA Division ll Women's Soccer Committee.
 
SRU was ranked third in the first two installments of the regional rankings before climbing one spot this week. The regional rankings are used by the NCAA to determine which teams from each of the eight regions qualify for the 56-team NCAA Division ll playoffs. The tournament bracket will be unveiled Monday, Nov. 18.
 
The top-six teams in the Atlantic Region in the final set of rankings will earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament with the PSAC Tournament and Mountain East Conference Tournament Champions earning automatic bids.
 
The top two teams in the Atlantic Region in the final set of rankings will earn byes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament while the fourth and fifth seeds will play in one first round game with the third and sixth seeds meeting in the other.
 
• WINS RECORD IN SIGHT – With a win over East Stroudsburg, Slippery Rock would tie the program record of 17 wins in a single season. The record of 17 wins was set during the 2007 season.
 
• BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN – Slippery Rock broke a four-game postseason losing streak in the 2-1 victory over Indiana. The victory also marked the first time SRU had scored two goals in a PSAC Tournament game since defeating No. 16 California University (Pa.), 3-0, in the 2013 conference tournament.
 
• LEADING THE WAY – Rachel Edge leads the way for the Slippery Rock offense with a team-best 38 points on 15 goals and eight assists. Swope and Jordyn Minda are tied for second with 21 points each this season. Minda ranks second in goals behind Edge at eight while Swope is tied for third at six with Tyler Spence and Harrison.
 
• SCORING MACHINE – Slippery Rock's 53 goals scored this season are the most for a Slippery Rock women's soccer team since achieving that mark during the 2004 season.
 
One more score this season would put this year's team in third place for goals scored in a season at 54. The 1999 team is in second with 56 goals while the program record came in 2003 at 67 goals.
 
• ROCK SOLID DEFENSE – Having allowed one goal to IUP, Slippery Rock has allowed one goal or less in 16 of 19 games this season. In games when it allows one goal or less, SRU has a near perfect 15-1-0 record.
 
• KEEPER COUNT – After allowing only one goal against Indiana, Rock goalkeeper Emma Yoder has allowed one goal or less in 16 of her 19 starts in 2019. On the season, Yoder has a .819 save percentage along with a 0.78 goals against average and 68 saves.
 
• PSAC LEADERS – Edge leads the PSAC this season in points while being tied for the conference lead in goals scored. The sophomore ranks third in shots on goal with 43 while being tied for third in total shots at 75.
 
Swope is second in the conference in assists with nine this season followed by Edge in third with eight. Shannon McIntyre is tied for fourth with seven assists in 2019. Minda's four game-winning goals this season are tied for third-most in the PSAC this year.
 
Among PSAC goalkeepers, Yoder ranks fourth in goals against average, tied for fourth in shutouts and seventh in save percentage.
 
• ROUNDING OUT THE ATTACK – McIntyre, Kaitlyn Barackman and Georgia Nagucki each have three goals this season followed by Riefenstahl, Katy Ericson and Ashley Rea rounding out the goal scorers for SRU this season with one each.
 
McIntyre has seven assists in 2019 followed by Minda with five and Spence with four. Harrison, Barackman, Riefenstahl, Miranda Gallucci and Julia Mascaro round out the assist leaders for Slippery Rock with one apiece.
 
EAST STROUDSBURG PRIMER
Overall Record: 14-5-0
PSAC East Record: 12-4-0
PSAC Tournament Seed: No. 3
Last PSAC Title: 2017
Home Record: 5-4-0
Away Record: 9-1-0
Last Five Games: 4-1-0
Head Coach: Rob Berkowtiz l 12th Season at ESU (149-74-26)
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
• Last time out: East Stroudsburg defeated No. 15 Millersville in the PSAC quarterfinal round, 1-0, on the road in overtime.
 
The game was a defensive stalemate throughout with neither defense willing to give an inch. Through regulation, ESU goalkeeper Mauri Jackson had seven saves while MU keeper Reagan Kolinski stopped all five shots she faced.
 
The Warriors secured the 1-0 victory on the game-winner by Danielle Cary in the 95th minute on a pass from Haley Skove, sending ESU to the PSAC Tournament semifinal round.
 
• East Stroudsburg is led on offense by Melissa Herrera who has 17 points on seven goals and three assists and Monica Wood with 17 points on six goals and five assists.
 
• In goal for the Warriors, Jackson has an .883 save percentage along with a 0.68 goals against average and 98 saves.

• In previous postseason matchups against Slippery Rock, ESU has seen success from players on its current roster. Wood scored the game-winning goal in the 2017 postseason matchup with SRU while Jules Sicker and Amy Strauser both scored in the 2016 match against The Rock. 
 
UP NEXT
If Slippery Rock defeats ESU, it will host either Edinboro or West Chester in the PSAC Championship game 1 p.m. Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.


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