SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team saw its 15-game unbeaten streak at James Egli Field come to an end Wednesday, dropping a 3-1 decision to Pitt-Johnstown.
The Rock are now 5-4-3 overall and 5-2-2 within Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division play. The Mountain Cats moved above .500, improving to 5-4-2 on the year and 3-4-2 in conference action.
Sophia Palermo got The Rock on the board in the 26
th minute for a lead that would last through the first half but not the second, as SRU saw a trio of UPJ goals fall into the net.
Sydney Patrick recorded the assist on Palermo's goal, which came on a corner kick. Palermo led the offense by landing all four of her shots on goal, with more firepower coming from
Maddie DeLucio's five total shots and two shots on net.
Patrick placed one of her three shots on cage, while
Olivia Yoder sent both of her shots to the goal.
Faith Diffenbacher,
Bailey McGee,
Skylar Munnikhuysen and
Libby Zacharyasz rounded out SRU's 18 shots with one each.
Leah Allman made two saves in net for The Rock, surrendering three very well-placed UPJ shots in the loss.
Pitt-Johnstown let Slippery Rock know early that it would be a force to be reckoned with, taking the game's first three shots within the opening 16 minutes.
The Rock strung together some momentum through the middle portion of the first half, capitalizing on a Patrick corner kick when Palermo guided the set piece in for a 1-0 lead 25:06 into the match.
Slippery Rock took the remaining four shots of the first half and won all six corner kick chances in the opening 45 minutes but only came away with a one-goal cushion at halftime.
Before Slippery Rock could get a shot off in the second half, Pitt-Johnstown had taken a 2-1 lead in just 4:42. Lydia Roman fired the equalizer past Allman 1:56 into the half before assisting Sophia Lamesta's 50
th-minute goal in similar fashion.
The Rock rattled off the next seven shots of the contest but succumbed to a third Pitt-Johnstown goal in the 71
st minute as Haley Neidig gave UPJ a 3-1 lead.
Three more shots and three more corners would fall in Slippery Rock's favor, but Pitt-Johnstown had done enough damage to steal three vital points from SRU in its playoff push.
The Rock outshot the Mountain Cats 18-6, earning a 10-5 advantage in shots on goal. Slippery Rock also took all nine of the game's corner kicks. On top of Roman's three points from one goal and one assist, Nicole Hawk recorded her first career points with two assists for UPJ. Emma Morin made eight saves in net for Pitt-Johnstown.
Slippery Rock will host a nationally ranked team for the fourth time in five home fixtures by welcoming No. 23 Indiana University (Pa.) to James Egli Field 1 p.m. Saturday.
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