MANSFIELD, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University field hockey team lost on the road to No. 9 Mansfield University, 5-0, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition Wednesday.
The loss drops The Rock's record to 5-5 overall and 0-3 in the PSAC while the nationally ranked Mountaineers improve to 6-5 overall and 1-2 in league contests.
Rock goalkeeper
Grace Burker faced near constant pressure all game while finishing the contest with a career-high 19 saves, which vaulted her past Ashley Winkelstecht (2006-07) and into seventh place in program history for saves in a career with 150 over 26 games played. Burker's 19 stops also represent the fourth-highest single game total in program history.
Samantha Karmonick,
Erin Roland,
Kayla Del Vecchio and
Grace Maynard led The Rock's offensive efforts with one shot on goal apiece.
Mansfield controlled possession for the majority of the first quarter. SRU withstood the attack for most of the opening period, defending five shots and clearing four corners before the Mounties were eventually able to breakthrough with the game's first goal in the 13th minute as Alex Esterling gained possession of a Burker save and proceeded to slide a second shot into the back of the cage to give Mansfield a 1-0 lead it would take into the second quarter.
Esterling went on to put the game away for Mansfield as she posted two more goals in a three-minute span at the opening of the second quarter before adding another score in the third quarter. MU tacked on an additional goal in the fourth quarter to close out the 5-0 win.
For the game, Mansfield held advantages over Slippery Rock in total shots (31-4), shots on goal (26-4) and penalty corners (17-3).
Slippery Rock steps out of conference competition when it hosts Frostburg State University 6 p.m. Friday on Alumni Day at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
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