MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University field hockey team lost a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference road game to No. 5 Millersville University, 6-2, Friday.
 
The loss drops Slippery Rock's record to 6-6 overall and 0-4 in the PSAC while the nationally ranked Marauders improve to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in league competition.
 
Gianna Conti and Leslie Colliver both tallied goals for The Rock Friday. Conti's score was her fourth of the year while Colliver's goal, her second in as many games and fifth in 2022 overall, pulled her into a tie for the team season lead alongside Erin Roland and Bailee Christman.
 
Kayla Del Vecchio had one assist as well while Roland recorded a team-high three shots on goal to round out SRU's offensive leaders.
 
Del Vecchio, who along with Addy Ross was recently selected to represent The Rock in the 2022 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Senior Game, is now tied for second in SRU single-season program history for assists with Samantha Griffin (2001), Allie Hartman (2010) and Lindsay Brown (2013). With five games remaining in the regular season, Del Vecchio is one assist away from matching Kailee Krupski's 2016 program record of eight assists.
 
Defensively, goalkeeper Grace Burker made 12 saves over 60 minutes with Del Vecchio and Gabriella Delcoco also posting defensive saves.
 
Millersville took an early 1-0 lead in the first quarter after Kate Strickland, the second-leading goal scorer in all of Division II, was able to finish a shot past Burker in a congested middle of circle.
 
The one-goal lead held for the near entirety of the quarter, but with under three seconds left in the period the Marauders were able to tack on a second goal courtesy of Emily Buss.
 
The Marauders went on to add two more goals over the first three minutes in the second quarter before SRU got on the board when Conti finished off a shot that was set up by Del Vecchio in the 20th minute as the game entered halftime with Millersville leading 5-1.
 
Following a scoreless third quarter, each team added a final goal in the last 15 minutes as Millersville closed out the 6-2 win.
 
For the game, the Marauders held advantages over The Rock in total shots (27-9), shots on goal (20-8) and corners (15-8). Strickland ended the contest with a hat trick to pace Millersville.
 
Slippery Rock opens a stretch of the season in which it plays three of its next four games at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium beginning 4 p.m. Oct. 26 against Mercyhurst University.




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