SLIPPERY ROCK Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team tallied it's third straight win in a 4-1 victory at James Egli Field against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division opponent Edinboro University Wednesday afternoon.
With the win Slippery Rock improves to 7-1-1 overall and 6-1-0 in the conference while Edinboro falls to 5-2-0 and 4-2-0 in the PSAC West. Wednesday's match marked the first meeting between the top two programs in the PSAC West this season and first since SRU defeated Edinboro in the 2019 PSAC Tournament championship game.
The Rocks offensive surge was led by four different players in Julia Mascaro, Georgia Nagucki, Sydney Patrick and Ashley Rea who all collected a goal, while Rachel Edge dished out a pair of assists.
Nagucki's goal was her third over the last two games while the scores by Patrick and Rea marked the second of the season for both. Mascaro's goal was the first of her career.
Wednesday's game is the fourth multi-assist contest of Edge's career. The two assists pushed Edge's PSAC-best point total to 19 (seven goals / five assists) in addition to lifting her to eighth in program history for career points (66) and sixth in career assists (20).
Emma Yoder produced another strong performance, making two saves and only allowing one goal through 90 minutes. The victory was the 27th of Yoder's career, which is tied for fourth in school history with Lauren McManus (2006-09).
The Rock quickly got on the board first with a perfect ball from Edge to Mascaro that was laid right past goalkeeper Anna Voelker in the fourth minute of play. The Fighting Scots answered with a goal of their own in the 27th minute by Haydn Paxton who landed a shot right out of the reach of Yoder to even the score.
The tides turned for Slippery Rock when Edge had a clean breakaway in the 44th minute that forced Voelker to foul the top offensive threat in region as a last resort, prompting a penalty kick that Nagucki sank into the upper right corner to put SRU back in the lead with less than three minutes left in the half.
The Rock never relinquished their lead as Edge set up another one of her teammates, this time Patrick who netted the third goal for SRU in the 80th minute, followed by Rea lofting a shot over the out-stretched hands of Voelker to close out the three-goal victory.
Slippery Rock's defense held the Fighting Scots to just one shot on goal for the entirety of the second half. The Rock has now surrendered just two combined shots on goal in the second half over the last four games. SRU is also yet to allow a second-half goal in 2021.
For the game, Slippery Rock held advantages over Edinboro in total shots (13-9), shots on goal (10-3) and corners (3-1).
Slippery Rock will remain home to face PSAC West opponent Gannon University 1 p.m. Oct. 6 at James Egli Field.
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