BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University field hockey team concluded its 2024 season with a 4-1 loss at fourth-ranked Bloomsburg Friday.
 
SRU ends its season with a 4-12 overall record and a 0-9 mark inside the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference while the nationally ranked Huskies improve to 14-4 overall and 6-3 in league bouts.
 
Playing in their final games in SRU uniforms, the trio of Bailee Christman, Leslie Colliver and Grace Burker led The Rock Friday.
 
Christman scored Slippery Rock's lone goal – her sixth of the season - while getting off a team-high four shots. Colliver assisted on Christman's goal for what was her fourth of the year, which is tied with Hilary Hoffman for team-high honors, in addition to placing one shot on goal.
 
Burker was solid for The Rock's defense, making seven saves on a day that saw SRU face 23 shots from one of the top scoring teams in the PSAC. Megan Rude added a defensive save to The Rock's season total. Slippery Rock finishes the season with 14 defensive saves, the third most in single-season program history.
 
Hoffman recorded Slippery Rock's remaining shot.
 
While Bloomsburg held an 8-0 advantage over The Rock in total shots through the first 15 minutes, possession was largely even while SRU's defense kept the Huskies at bay by allowing just three of Bloomsburg's early attempts to make it to Burker who promptly stopped the trio of shots to keep it a scoreless contest at the end of the first quarter.
 
Slippery Rock amped up its attack in the second quarter with three shots and as many penalty corners.
 
It was The Rock's third corner of the quarter which proved to be the breaking point for the Bloomsburg defense as Colliver played in a perfect ball to Christman who corralled the pass, took two steps to her right and fired in a shot that sailed by Husky goalie Jackie Nevel and into the back of the cage for the game's first goal in the 21st minute.
 
Bloomsburg quickly answered back 74 seconds later when Kara Koch sent a pass through a crowded middle to Genna Bush who was waiting unchecked behind the action and was able to slide in her attempt into wide open cage at 22:21.
 
The Huskies seemed poised to take a lead when they were awarded a penalty stroke in the 24th minute, but Burker made a diving stop with her stick on Bush's attempt to keep the game even at 1-1 heading into the halftime break.
 
The start of the second half featured more back-and-forth play before Bloomsburg was awarded another penalty stroke in the waning moments of the quarter, this one being a successful attempt from Aydan McFarland – the NCAA's second-leading goal scorer – to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead with 48 seconds left in the third.
 
Bloomsburg proceeded to add insurance goals in the 50th minute and 54th minutes while the Huskies' defense fended off three Rock shots in the fourth quarter on the way to their three-goal victory.
 
As a team, Bloomsburg held advantages over Slippery Rock in total shots (23-6), shots on goal (12-3) and penalty corners (10-5). McFarland paced Bloomsburg with two goals and one assist.
 
Friday's game was the final collegiate contests in the careers of the 2024 Rock senior class of Burker, Christman, Colliver, Haley Metcalf and Gianna Conti. All five seniors leave SRU ranked among the program's best assorted statistical categories.
 
SRU 2024 Senior Class Career Rankings
Grace Burker
Goalie Wins: 3rd (22)
Saves: 3rd (392)
 
Bailee Christman
Points: 9th (43)
Goals: 12th (17)
Assists: 8th (9)
 
Leslie Colliver
Points: 14th (39)
Goals: 20th (13)
Assists: 3rd (13)
 
Gianna Conti
Points: 11th (40)
Goals: 11th (18)
 
Haley Metcalf
Assists: 19th (6)
 
 

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