SRU Stats (2018)  |  AIC Stats (2019)
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University field hockey team will start its 2019 campaign with a non-conference neutral site game against American International College 4 p.m. Saturday at Delaware Valley High School in Milford, Pennsylvania.
 
NEW YEAR, NEW RULES
NCAA field hockey will have a new look this year as several rules will go into effect in 2019. A standard field hockey game will now consist of four 15-minute quarters with two-minute breaks between quarters and a 10-minute halftime. The clock will also now stop every time a penalty corner is awarded (although the umpire will not signal for the stoppage).
 
GAME 1 DETAILS
Opponent: American International College
Date: Saturday, Sept. 7 – 4 p.m.
Location: Delaware Valley High School | Milford, Pa.
All-Time Series: Slippery Rock leads, 6-3
Last Played: Sept. 3, 2018 (Rock won 7-0 at AIC)
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. AIC
Slippery Rock holds a healthy 6-3 edge in the all-time series against American International. The Rock and Yellow Jackets have played in each of the last eight years.
 
LAST MEETING
SRU expanded on a two-goal halftime lead with five goals in the final 35 minutes en route to a 7-0 shutout victory over AIC on the road Sept. 3, 2018. Six different Rock players found the back of the cage with Kayla Ulrich leading the way with a pair of goals.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• 2018 Record: 6-12
• 2018 PSAC Record: 1-9
• 2018 Home Record: 3-5
• 2018 Away Record: 1-7
• 2018 Neutral Site Record: 2-0
• Last Five Games of 2018: 1-4
• PSAC Preseason Poll: Eighth
• Head Coach: Julie Swiney | 10th season (63-104)
 
SLIPPERY ROCK NOTES
• SRU is 5-2 in season-openers dating back to the 2012 season.
 
• Slippery Rock is 7-2 in neutral site contests under head coach Julie Swiney.
 
• Six active Rock athletes have accounted for points over their careers against American International. Kayla Ulrich has scored two goals and passed out two assists. Jessie Trube and Lauren Marks have both scored two goals versus AIC while Courtney Page and Abby McKay have a goal and an assist each against the Yellow Jackets with Brenna McGovern-Lind rounding out the group with an assist of her own.
 
• Goalkeeper Maddie Murphy has not allowed a goal against American International over two appearances (88:58).
 
• Swiney is no stranger to American International as she was the program's head coach for four seasons (2006-09). She also recruited current AIC head coach Rhonwen Peters, who played for Swiney for three years at AIC.
 
• The 2019 season will mark Swiney's 10th year in charge of the Slippery Rock field hockey program. Swiney, The Rock's second winningest coach of all-time, has completely shifted the culture of the program both on and off the field since coming to The Rock.
 
• SRU won just 22 games in the nine seasons prior to Swiney's arrival. In her first nine seasons at The Rock, Swiney has guided SRU to 63 victories, four PSAC Tournament appearances and nine victories over nationally ranked opponents. The +41 win differential is the seventh largest in NCAA Division II over that time span. Off the field, Slippery Rock has earned the highest GPA in the nation on six occasions under Swiney.
 
• Slippery Rock returns five starters from a season ago and nine players overall who appeared in at least 16 games. Included in the returners are Slippery Rock's top six goal scorers from 2018 and its starting goalkeeper.
  
• Ulrich, a two-time All-PSAC honoree, figures to once again lead the way on offense for The Rock. Ulrich, who has produced 19 goals over her first two collegiate seasons, is coming  off of a sophomore campaign in which she totaled 18 points on eight goals and two assists.
 
• Trube is The Rock's second leading returning scorer after a five-goal freshman season in 2018. Page and McKay both posted three goals last season with Page also passing out two assists. Lauren Marks (two goals) and Emily Polakovsky (two goals) round out The Rock's top returning goal scorers.
 
• Seven Rock players tied for the team lead with two assists last season in Ulrich, Page, Marks, McGovern-Lind, Liz Wolfe, Hannah Simone and Kalie Reed.
 
• Murphy started all 18 games for The Rock last year, finishing the year with six wins, 97 saves, a 2.07 Goals Against Average and a .740 save percentage. Backup Hannah Nurse appeared in five games, making six saves and allowing three goals in 114:41 of playing time. Nurse did not allow a goal in four of her five games played.
 
• The Rock's junior quartet of Ulrich, Page, McKay and Murphy have appeared in all 37 SRU games over the first two years of their careers. Seniors Jordan Barnes and McGovern-Lind are SRU's two most experienced players with 51 and 48 games played, respectively.
 
• Urlich and Barnes both enter Saturday's game having started 37 consecutive games.
 
RECORDS WATCH
• Ulrich enters her junior season ranked sixth in Slippery Rock history in both career points (42) and career goals (19). She is two goals away from passing the duo of Christine Peupile (1984-88) and Lindsay Brown (2011-13) for fourth place on The Rock's all-time goal ledger and only two points shy of surpassing Kailee Krupski (2014-17) for the fifth most points in program history.
 
• Just a junior, Murphy already ranks sixth in for The Rock in all-time saves at 155. She needs 14 more saves to pass Nicole Bream (2014-17) for fifth in program history in career saves. Murphy's 11 wins are also the fourth highest total by a Rock goalie.
 
NEXT FIVE GAMES
Sept. 10 (4 p.m.) vs. Frostburg State
Sept. 13 (3 p.m.) at Kutztown
Sept. 14 (12 p.m.) at East Stroudsburg
Sept. 18 (4 p.m.) vs. Mansfield
Sept. 22 (1 p.m.) vs. Coker
 
THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
• Sept. 2, 2001 – SRU scores program record 11 goals against Washington & Jefferson.
• Sept. 6, 2008 – Lisa Belcastro records program record 20 saves at Indiana (Pa.)
• Sept. 2, 2012 – Kaitlin McGinnis nets hat trick vs. American International.
 
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PRIMER
• Record: 1-0
• NE10 Record: 0-0
• Home Record: 0-0
• Away Record: 1-0
• Neutral Site Record: 0-0
• Last Five Games (Dating back to end of 2018): 2-3
• NE10 Preseason Poll: 11th
• Head Coach: Rhonwen Peters  l  3rd season (6-31)
 
YELLOW JACKET NOTES
• American International opened the year with a 2-0 non-conference victory over New Haven on Sept. 5. The victory marked the first time since the 2016 season that AIC opened its year with a win.
 
• Shannon Cormier had a hand in both goals for AIC against New Haven as she scored once and assisted on the other. Chelsea Davis accounted for the Yellow Jackets' other goal.
 
• Goalkeeper Jessica Stone stopped four shots over 60 minutes in the shutout.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock hosts Frostburg State University 4 p.m. Sept. 10 at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 


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