INDIANA, Pa. – Morgan Sarver buried a 109^th-minute goal to lift the Slippery Rock University women's soccer team to a 2-1 overtime thriller in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals Tuesday at No. 23 Indiana University (Pa.).
 
The result marks Slippery Rock's first PSAC Tournament victory since 2019, bringing SRU's overall record to 9-5-4. The second-seeded Crimson Hawks suffer just their second loss all year, falling to 11-2-4 on the season.
 
With the victory, SRU will advance to the PSAC Semifinals to face Shepherd University Friday, the top-seeded team in the PSAC East.
 
The quarterfinal win also gives Slippery Rock its first win against a nationally ranked opponent since upsetting No. 18 Mercyhurst University a year ago at James Egli Field.
 
Prior to Sarver's overtime goal, The Rock had to answer a first-half IUP goal with an equalizer that came via Nina King's first career goal in the 65^th minute. Maddie DeLucio earned the assist on Sarver's game-winner.
 
Sarver also led The Rock with five shots and three shots on goal. Faith Diffenbacher pressured from the defensive third by putting two of her four shots on net, while Kierstyn Maxey, Sophia Palermo and Sydney Patrick all totaled three shots.
 
Both of Libby Zacharyasz's shot attempts fell on frame with King, Jaime Dermotta, Skylar Munnikhuysen and Olivia Yoder all adding one shot each.
 
In net, Leah Allman had to produce a career-high nine saves in order to keep IUP out of the net more than once.
 
The Rock threatened early when Diffenbacher took the first shot of the game 5:37 into the game but was denied by IUP's goalkeeper.
 
The Crimson Hawks found some momentum by winning three straight corners and taking three consecutive shots from the 11^th to the 16^th minutes. The Rock did momentarily win possession back with corners in the 20^th and 29^th minutes but gave up a 32^nd-minute goal from Hannah Scardina that gave IUP a 1-0 lead.
 
SRU won a corner kick and took three shots in the final 8:50 of the half but had to enter intermission trailing, 1-0.
 
The Rock matched their 10 first-half shots with 10 more in the second half, including eight unanswered in the first 19:19 of the period.
 
That frenzy ended when SRU won a free kick in the 65^th minute that set up a set piece about five yards outside the penalty box. King took it and had her initial shot knock off the wall of defenders. She gathered the rebound and fired a second time, finding the back of the net to tie the game, 1-1.
 
Indiana outshot SRU the rest of the way by a 4-2 difference – including a shot with 1:41 left in regulation – but could not get back ahead before the 90 minutes were up.
 
New to NCAA soccer this year is the return of "Golden Goal" overtime, meaning that although up to two 10-minute periods are still played, whichever team scores the first goal wins automatically.
 
The sides traded possessions in the first overtime period, both taking two shots but without a goal to show for. IUP earned a corner kick with two minutes left in the second period but had its shot sail wide left.
 
King intercepted the ball at midfield following IUP's goal kick, finding Yoder and DeLucio upfield. DeLucio fed a crisp through-ball that landed perfectly at the feet of Sarver, who beat a defender and scored in the 109^th minute of play to keep Slippery Rock's postseason alive.
 
SRU wound up gaining advantages in shots (24-17) and shots on goal (12-10), while the Crimson Hawks took five of the match's nine corner kicks. Scardina led IUP with seven shots and four looks at net as Makenna Yarrow made 10 saves for the Crimson Hawks.
 
With the highest remaining seed in the PSAC West hosting the remainder of the PSAC Tournament, Slippery Rock will find out the host site of Friday's semifinal game later Tuesday evening. The Rock will play Shepherd, a team SRU played to a 1-1 draw on the road in their season opener.





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