SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team got back on the winning track with a thrilling 14-13 victory over Lock Haven University Tuesday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The victory required two goals in the final seven minutes after Lock Haven erased a 12-11 SRU lead with a pair of goals just 17 seconds apart that gave the Bald Eagles their fifth lead of the game, 13-12 with 6:52 to play. Slippery Rock found the tying goal just 38 seconds later when Emily Benham scored to make it 13-13 with 6:14 to play.
 
Four minutes would pass before either team would break the seventh tie of the game. That tie-breaker and eventual game winner came from the stick of freshman Molly Buettner, who scored through traffic with 2:14 to play to put The Rock ahead.
 
Lock Haven would get one final look on offense, but never got a shot off as Katie Hart came up with a ground ball after an errant pass and SRU successfully cleared the zone and ran out the clock.

The final few frenzied minutes capped off a game that saw seven ties, but just three lead changes. The Rock scored the first goal of the game 1:18 in, but LHU answered 32 seconds later and took its first lead of the day just under eight minutes into the first half. SRU would tie the game six more times from there, but Lock Haven regained the lead nearly every time. The only other lead SRU had in the game, besides the final tally, was at 12-11 late in the second half. The biggest lead of the entire game was three goals, when Lock Haven led 5-2 early in the first half, and the lead never grew to more than two goals over the final 39 minutes.
 
The Rock improve to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in PSAC games with the win, while Lock Haven slips to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in league games. Tuesday's victory marked just the fourth win for SRU over LHU in the all-time series that dates back to 1976 and just the second win since SRU brought lacrosse back as a varsity sport in 2007. LHU was 15-1 in the series since 2007 entering Tuesday's game.
 
Slippery Rock was relentless in the offensive zone, firing a total of 46 shots and outshooting Lock Haven by a 46-25 margin. The Rock turned the ball over just 12 times compared to 25 LHU turnovers and finished the day 18-of-21 on the clear, including a perfect 9-for-9 in the second half. SRU also posted advantages of 27-18 in ground balls and 16-13 in draw controls. Lock Haven took just six fouls compared to SRU's 26, but struggled on the clear at 19-of-28.
 
The Bald Eagles were kept in the game thanks to an exceptional effort from goalie Lauren Girardi, who finished with 18 saves and eight ground balls.
 
Slippery Rock got goals from eight different players and got multi-point efforts from six different players.
 
Sami Gentzler led the attack with three goals and one assist, while Buettner and Hayley Pimentel each scored two goals and handed out one assist. Benham and Tori Penders both tallied two goals and ShyAnne Toomer scored one goal and assisted another to cap the multi-point scorers. Penders also finished with a game-high 10 draw controls.
 
Katie Dlugosz and Kelly Muenster capped the scorers for SRU with one goal each and Danie Porath paced the defensive effort with four caused turnovers. Haley Barrett earned the win in goal after recording six saves.
 
Lock Haven was paced offensively by Caitlin Morrow with five goals and two assists for a game-high seven points. Loren Librizzi added one goal and three assists.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus to its second of three straight home games when Kutztown visits MIhalik-Thompson Stadium Saturday for a 1 p.m. first draw.
 


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