SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team will travel back to Erie for the second time this week when it visits No. 25 Mercyhurst University Saturday for a 3 p.m. Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game at Saxon Stadium.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
•  Live Stats: LINK
•  Live Video: LINK
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV - "ROCK ATHLETICS DIGITAL NETWORK" APPS
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* This game will be produced by Mercyhurst  and simulcast on the Rock Athletics and PSAC Digital Networks
 
GAME 10 DETAILS
• Opponent: No. 25 Mercyhurst University
• Date: Saturday, April 1, 2023  |  3 p.m.
• Location: Saxon Stadium  |  Erie, Pa.
• All-Time Series: Mercyhurst leads 18-1
• Current Streak: Mercyhurst +9
• Last Meeting: April 9, 2022 at SRU – Mercyhurst won 13-8
 
RECORDS
Slippery Rock enters the game with a 6-3 overall record and a 2-2 mark in PSAC West games. The Rock are coming off a snow-shortened 13-3 win at Gannon Wednesday in Erie. That game was called with 15 minutes left due to snow and high winds. Mercyhurst, which moved back into the DII national poll this week at No. 25, snapped a five-game losing skid and improved to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in PSAC West games with a 14-1 win at Edinboro Wednesday. That game was stopped with more than 12 minutes remaining due to the same snow and wind that halted the SRU at Gannon game.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES  |  Game-by-Game Results
Mercyhurst owns an 18-1 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 2008. The Lakers have won the last nine straight meetings with six of those wins coming by three or fewer goals. Mercyhurst has been nationally ranked in 13 of the 19 all-time meetings, including the lone SRU win when Slippery Rock upset the No. 6 Lakers 11-9 in 2015.
 
LAST MEETING - APRIL 9, 2022  |  Box Score
Mercyhurst outscored Slippery Rock 4-1 in the second quarter to break a 3-3 tie and then outscored SRU 4-1 in the third quarter to pull away for a 13-8 win at SRU last April. Slippery Rock spent the majority of the game in the offensive zone and outshot Mercyhurst 38-25 in the game, but couldn't solve goalie Kaitlyn Lippert, who made 20 saves to give the Lakers a win. SRU got two goals and two assists from Emily Benham and seven draw controls from Charleigh Rondeau. Gillian O'Rourke made six saves in goal. Mercyhurst was paced by nine points from Victoria Gottoroff with five goals and four assists to go along with the stout effort from Lippert in the cage.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Overall Record: 6-3
• PSAC Record: 2-2
• Home Record: 4-1
• Away Record: 2-2
• Streak: Won 1
• Last Five Games: 3-2
• Head Coach: Taryn Burkholder (2nd season, Niagara '12)  |  Record: 16-10
 
ROCK ROLLS BY GANNON IN BOUNCE BACK
After suffering a heartbreaking 10-9 loss to Indiana (Pa.) after having the game-tying goal waived off, Slippery Rock bounced back with a commanding 13-3 win at Gannon Wednesday. The Rock jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first quarter and led 9-2 at halftime. The game was eventually called after three quarters due to unsafe playing conditions. SRU got goals from eight different players in that game and Gillian O'Rourke made five saves and allowed three goals on nine total shots.
 
RONDEAU OWNS ALL THE SRU DRAW CONTROL RECORDS
Charleigh Rondeau has pulled down 68 draw controls in eight games this spring and has already topped the all-time SRU career record with 293 draw controls and counting. She also owns the SRU single-season (144) and single-game (18) records for draw controls and her 6.98 draw controls per game over 42 games are also an SRU career record.
 
RONDEAU AMONG NATION'S BEST
Charleigh Rondeau ranks No. 4 among all players in Division II in draw controls per game with an average of 8.50 in 2023, a number that took a hit after only playing 45 minutes earlier this week. She is one of only four players in the country to average more than 8.0 draw controls per game this spring.
 
SEARLES LEADING SRU
Junior attacker Lauren Searles has stepped up this spring and leads The Rock in scoring with 27 points on 23 goals and four assists in nine games. She entered this spring with a previous career-high of just six points on five goals and one assist, which she recorded over eight games in 2022. Searles ranks 11th in the country in free position percentage, scoring on 67 percent of her free position attempts.
 
O'ROURKE STRINGING TOGETHER GOOD GAMES
Rock goalie Gillian O'Rourke was named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week earlier this week for her performance in a pair of games last week. O'Rourke made 12 saves and grabbed five ground balls in a 17-9 win over Lock Haven and then made 11 saves and grabbed five ground balls while limiting IUP to its lowest scoring output against a PSAC West opponent this spring. She followed that up Wednesday with five saves and only three goals allowed at Gannon. After being pulled earlier in the season, O'Rourke has bounced back in a big way and has improved her goals against average to 9.82 and her save percentage to .475, both of which rank in the top 25 nationally.
 
ROOKIES AMONG KEY CONTRIBUTORS
Slippery Rock has two true freshmen ranked in the top five on the team in scoring through the first nine games of the season with Ida Modin ranked third with 17 points on 11 goals and six assists and Olivia Fox ranked fourth with 15 points on 11 goals and four assists. The Rock have also gotten nine points from Leora Owings on four goals and five assists and eight points from Erin Melcher with six goals and two assists. Owings also leads SRU with 13 caused turnovers and leads all field players with 19 ground balls.
 
SRU STATS BREAKDOWN
Through nine games, Slippery Rock is outshooting opponents 270-203 and outscoring the opposition 117-83. The Rock have posted advantages of 187-165 in ground balls and 134-100 in draw controls while also causing 107 turnovers and limiting opponents to 72.5 percent success on clear attempts.
 
Lauren Searles leads the team in scoring with a career-high 27 points on 23 goals and four assists while also leading the team with 41 shots on goal. Brooke Wisniewski ranks second in scoring with 20 goals and two assists. Ida Modin with 11 goals and six assists and Olivia Fox with 11 goals and four assists give SRU four players with at least 15 points. Charleigh Rondeau has nine goals and four assists while leading the team with 68 draw controls. Rachel Mahoney (seven goals, three assists) and Camryn Whipple (6g, 4a) round out the players with double figure points.
 
Alexa Juska leads the defense with 12 caused turnovers, while Nicole Masi and Amelia Nitsche have 11 each. Hailey Ohlsen has started the last five games and is up to 10 caused turnovers to round out the top defensive players for a unit that is playing without Sara Danowski, who suffered a season-ending injury after setting the single-game caused turnover record earlier this spring.
 
Gillian O'Rourke has started seven games in goal and owns a 4-2 record with a 9.82 goals against average and a .475 save percentage. Izzie Sutton has started two games and is 2-1 with an 8.52 goals against average and a .441 save percentage. Combined, The Rock's two goalies own a 9.49 goals against average and a .468 save percentage.
 
MERCYHURST PRIMER
• Overall Record: 3-5
• PSAC Record: 1-3
• Home Record: 2-3
• Away Record: 1-2
• Streak: Won 1
• Last Five Games: 1-4
• Head Coach: Sam Struss (2nd season, Liberty '15)  |  Record: 17-11
 
SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Mercyhurst began the year ranked in the top 20 of the Division II national poll and enters this week at No. 25. The Lakers won their first two games of the year before losing five straight entering this week. They snapped that skid Wednesday with a 14-1 win at Edinboro.
 
Mercyhurst is being outscored 100-78 and outshot 208-191 through eight games. Opponents have managed a 107-98 advantage in draw controls while Merchyhurst has put up a 157-143 edge in ground balls and a 57-41 advantage in caused turnovers.
 
Victoria Gottoroff and Maggie Newton lead the team with 18 points each with Gottoroff owning 11 goals and seven assists and Newton posting 10 goals and eight assists. Newton also leads the team with 30 draw controls. Gabby McGinn has 11 goals and two assists, while Amanda Bailey (8g, 3a) and Whitley Easton (8g, 3a) cap the players with double digit points.
 
Beca McGwin has a team high nine caused turnovers. The Lakers have played two goalies nearly an even number of minutes this year. Paige Maneri has an 11.44 goals against average and a .385 save percentage in 251 minutes and AJ Jameson has a 14.45 goals against average and a .288 save percentage in 215 minutes.
 
NEXT UP
Slippery Rock returns home to host Edinboro Wednesday at 4 p.m. to round out the first round of PSAC West competition. The Rock will kick off the second set of games against the division the following Wednesday, April 12, on the road at Lock Haven.



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