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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Following a 671-day layoff between official games, the Slippery Rock University field hockey team will make its long-awaited return to Mihalik-Thompson Stadium 5 p.m. Thursday when it opens the 2021 season with a non-conference game against Lindenwood University.  

COVID-19 FAN INFORMATION
• Fans should not attend any events if you are experiencing any symptoms or feeling ill.
• Masks are REQUIRED inside all buildings on the SRU campus, regardless of vaccination status.
• Fans are encouraged, but not currently required, to wear masks at SRU outdoor events.
• Fans are encouraged to social distance when possible at events.
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV - "ROCK ATHLETICS DIGITAL NETWORK" APPS
• Fans can watch Thursday's game 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.
 
FACULTY AND STAFF APPRECIATION DAY
As a way of showing appreciation for all of the hard-working faculty and staff at SRU, and in an effort to strengthen the bonds with all employees within the campus community, Slippery Rock field hockey is extending an invitation to all campus employees and their families to attend Thursday's home-opener.
 
Dr. Joanne Leight, who is a professor of Physical & Health Education at SRU as well as serving as the department chair, in addition to being a former Rock field hockey student-athlete, will represent the faculty and staff on the field prior to the game by taking part in a ceremonial pass back.
 
Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day is one of The Rock's nine special events slated for 2021. Click HERE to read more about the SRU field hockey team's special event schedule.
 
GAME DETAILS
Opponent: Lindenwood
Date: Thursday, Sept. 2 – 5 p.m.
Location: Mihalik-Thompson Stadium
Live Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: Rock leads 3-1
Last Played: Sept. 20, 2015 (SRU won 2-1)
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Slippery Rock holds a 3-1 record against Lindenwood in the all-time series which dates back to the 2012 season.
 
LAST MEETING
Allison Grant and Megan Kane both scored goals while Carlee DuMars made five saves in a 2-1 Rock victory over Lindenwood in a neutral-site contest in Erie, Pennsylvania on Sept. 20, 2015.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
2019 Overall Record: 5-13
2019 Home Record: 3-6
2019 Away Record: 2-6
2019 Neutral Record: 0-1
Last Five Games of 2019: 2-3
2021 PSAC Coaches Poll: Ninth
Head Coach: Rayell Heistand | Second Year at SRU (0-0)
 
ROCK SOLID vs. NON-PSAC SCHOOLS
Dating back to the 2010 season, Slippery Rock holds a commanding 26-11 (.703) record against non-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference teams.
 
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
44 of The Rock's 68 wins (64.7 percent) over the last decade have come at the friendly confines of Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. Slippery Rock is a healthy 13-7 (.650) when hosting teams that compete outside of the PSAC over the same stretch.
 
BULK OF THE OFFENSE IS BACK
While Slippery Rock did lose Kayla Ulrich, who was one of the program's all-time leaders in goals scored, to graduation, The Rock will enjoy the luxury of returning senior Jessie Trube (8 goals in 2019), senior Courtney Page (3), senior Lauren Marks (3) and junior Addy Ross (2). The quartet accounted for 60 percent of The Rock's goals two years ago. Additonally, Page and Ross each assisted on three goals apiece in 2019.
 
OTHER KEY RETURNERS
Among The Rock's other key returners from the 2019 season are goalkeeper Hannah Nurse, Holly Stiller and Kayla Del Vecchio.
 
After playing sparingly as a freshman in 2018, Hannah Nurse came on to become one of The Rock's primary goalies in 2019 when she started 12 games (661:30), making 88 saves (.733) and accounting for three of SRU's five wins.
 
Like Nurse, Stiller also enjoyed an expanded role as a sophomore in 2019 after being used in a reserve capacity during her freshman year by ranking sixth in the nation with five defensive saves.

Del Vecchio meanwhile played the second most games, 17, of any Rock freshman in 2019.
 
After sitting out the 2019 season, Haley Plitt is also back. Plitt had a strong freshman campaign in 2018 when she posted a pair of defensive saves in 18 appearances.

FAST STARTERS
Page has produced at least one point for The Rock in each of SRU's last two season-openers. She assisted on SRU's lone goal in 2019's opener against American International. In 2018's opener, which was a 6-1 win vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, she scored one goal and assisted on another.
 
Trube and Marks each notched two-goal games in SRU's five-goal win against Aquinas as well.

TRUBE CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS
Trube heads into the Lindenwood game ranked 17th in program history in both career points (28) and goals scored (13). Her next goal will push her into a four-way tie for 14th on The Rock's all-time goal ledger alongside Vicki Peterson (1994-97), Barb Watson (1974-76) and Gabrielle Malishchak (2009-12).
 
55 STRAIGHT FOR PAGE
Page enters Thursday's game having played in 55 consecutive games at The Rock. Page, who has also started 36 straight games, has yet to miss a game in her three years for The Rock.
 
Should Page appear in all 16 regular season games this year, she'll enter any potential postseason contests ranked eighth in program history for consecutive games played.
 
GOAL STREAK ON THE LINE FOR MARKS
If Marks were to score a goal against Lindenwood it would mark three straight games in which she has tallied a score for The Rock dating back to the end of the 2019 season when she registered goals against Shippensburg and Seton Hill. Since the 2002 season, only six other Rock athletes have scored goals in three consecutive games
 
NEW FACES
Nine Rock underclassmen will be appearing in their first collegiate games this season as sophomores Samantha Karmonick, Katelyn Sparks, Gabriella Delcoco and Erin Roland join the 2021 freshmen class of Baliee Christman, Nadia Irving, Leslie Colliver, Haley Metcalf and Grace Burker in dawning the Green & White for the first time in a regular season contest.
 
HEISTAND TO MAKE ROCK DEBUT
The biggest difference in The Rock field hockey program from 2019 has been its change in leadership as new head coach Rayell Heistand took over for Julie Swiney in June of 2020. While Heistand will be coaching her first official games in 2021, she has already been in charge of the program for over a year, including the 2021 spring semester in which SRU was able to conduct several scrimmages against other institutions.
 
Heistand comes to Slippery Rock with six years of NCAA Division I coaching experience to her name. Prior to being named the 12th coach in SRU program history, Heistand served as an assistant at Miami University for the five seasons. She played an instrumental role in leading the RedHawks to a 65-40 (.619) record, four Mid-American Conference regular season titles, three MAC Tournament championships and three NCAA Tournament berths during her time at Miami.
 
GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Heistand will look to become just the third coach in program history, along with Stacey Hart (2006) and Jan Kasnevich (1985), to begin their tenure at The Rock with a victory. 

NEXT FIVE GAMES
Sept. 2 (2 p.m.) vs. Queens (Friends in Field Hockey Day)
Sept. 11 (11 a.m.) vs. vs. Belmont Abbey (Alumni Day)
Sept. 15 (5 p.m.) at Frostburg State
Sept. 18 (Noon) at Seton Hill
Sept. 19 (2 p.m.) vs. Indiana (Pa.) (International Students Day)
 
THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
Sept. 2, 2001 – SRU scores program record 11 goals vs. Washington & Jefferson.
 
LINDENWOOD PRIMER
2019 Overall Record: 11-7
2019 Home Record: 4-0
2019 Away Record: 5-5
2019 Neutral Record: 2-2
Last Five Games of 2019: 3-2
Head Coach: Sarah Baumann | 11th Year at LU (96-58)
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Lindenwood is coming off of an 11-7 record in 2019 that included the Lions being ranked as high as fifth in the country in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association top-10 poll. However, LU returns just seven players from two seasons ago.
 
The Lions figure to be led by Pauline Terwindt, who recorded 15 points on six goals and three assists in 2019. The trio of Izzy Folan, Annick Giebels and Allie Hosto all chipped in one goal and one assist apiece two years ago as well.
 
LU will be tasked with breaking in a new starting goalie as Mackenzie Litterst, who played all but 15 minutes of the 2019 season was lost due to graduation. The Lions have four goalkeepers on their roster, none of which have played in a regular season game.

Lindenwood's roster has an international flare to it as seven countries are represented. 
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock hosts Queens University 2 p.m. Sunday on Friends in Field Hockey Day at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
 

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