SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team outscored Gannon University 3-1 in the fourth quarter to complete an 8-7 comeback win in a crucial Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game Wednesday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock trailed by two goals for long stretches of the second half and Gannon regained a two-goal cushion, 7-5, with 13:54 to play.
 
Slippery Rock cut that deficit to 7-6 when Leora Owings took a pass from Charleigh Rondeau and put home a goal from right in front of the circle with 11:29 to play.
 
The Rock then found the tying goal when Olivia Fox fired home a high shot on a free position attempt to make it 7-7 with 6:47 to play.
 
The eventual game-winner came just over a minute later when The Rock's defensive pressure forced a failed clear from Gannon and set up a quick strike on the counter attack. Camryn Whipple knocked down a pass and picked up the ground ball before quickly moving it ahead to Ida Modin down the left wing. Modin found a cutting Lauren Searles alone in the middle of the field and Searles fired it home from the 8-meter line to give Slippery Rock an 8-7 lead with 5:26 to play.
 
Gannon would get multiple looks at the tying goal, including three shots at the net with under two minutes to play. One of those went just wide of the target, but SRU goalie Gillian O'Rourke saved the other two to preserve the one-goal advantage and seal the win.
 
Slippery Rock improves to 9-5 overall and 5-4 in the PSAC West, staying one game ahead of Mercyhurst for the third and final playoff spot in the division with three games to play. Gannon drops to 3-12 overall and 3-7 in PSAC games.
 
The Rock finished with a 36-24 advantage in total shots and caused 12 of Gannon's 22 total turnovers, but SRU had trouble all day with scoring on Gannon goalie Haleigh Manning. Manning made 11 saves in the first half alone and finished with 17 saves to keep her team in it all day. Gannon also did something very few teams have done to SRU all year by dominating in the draw circle. The Knights won six of the first seven draws and finished with a 12-7 edge in draw controls. SRU posted a 23-22 edge in ground balls and was much better on clear attempts, going 18-of-23 to Gannon's 13-of-23.
 
Modin finished with two goals and one assist and Rondeau finished with one goal and two assists to lead SRU with three points each. Owings tallied two goals and had three caused turnovers to round out the players with multiple points.
 
The Rock got one goal each from Fox, Searles and Whipple and one assist from Krysta Frankowski to cap the scorers, while Rachel Mahoney matched Owings with a game-high three caused turnovers.

O'Rourke finished with 10 saves in the game, including four in the fourth quarter to help SRU complete the comeback.
 
Gannon was led by Caroline Stevens with two goals and Manning with 17 saves and four ground balls. It was Stevens who had the best look at a tying goal late when her shot was saved by O'Rourke with under 90 seconds to play. She also grabbed a game-high four draw controls.
 
Slippery Rock will now hit the road for a pair of PSAC games in the next week before returning home to close the regular season April 29 against Mercyhurst in a game that could very well be a must-win game for both teams. Before that, SRU will travel to Indiana (Pa.) this Saturday and visit Edinboro next Wednesday.
 
 
 
To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).