SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team rolled to a 4-0 home win over Edinboro behind a career day from Sophia Palermo, who spearheaded SRU's attack with two goals and an assist Wednesday at James Egli Field.
 
The Rock conclude their regular season efforts with an 8-5-4 overall record and an 8-3-3 mark inside the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division, which is good enough for the three-seed in the PSAC Tournament. The Fighting Scots suffer their third straight loss, falling to 5-7-3 on the year and 5-7-1 in the PSAC West.
 
After a pair of unassisted goals from Palermo (3', 25'), The Rock piled onto its total with goals from Olivia Yoder (42') and Skylar Munnikhuysen (75'). Palermo, Yoder and Sydney Patrick each recorded one assist in the win.
 
Palermo tallied a game-high seven shots in the match with two landing on target. Munnikhuysen put two of her three shots on goal, while Morgan Sarver and Libby Zacharyasz each fired two total shots. Yoder, Maddie DeLucio, Jaime Dermotta, Faith Diffenbacher and Nina King rounded out SRU's 19-shot attack with one apiece.
 
Leah Allman added an eighth shutout to her 2024 resume by making four saves in net.
 
The Rock converted their first shot of the game with Palermo's first goal, putting SRU ahead early with a 1-0 lead just 2:43 into the afternoon. Palermo wound up a shot from the corner of the penalty box, which Edinboro keeper Sandra Malave got a hand on, but not without the ball falling into the net behind her.
 
SRU took four unanswered shots to follow, mounting a 2-0 lead in the 25^th minute when Palermo drew a foul in the box and proceeded to score The Rock's first penalty kick goal of the year.
 
Slippery Rock nearly took a 3-0 lead in the 39^th minute when Irene Doleno looked to have scored her first career goal, but the offside flag went up to disallow the impressive run.
 
Yoder redeemed The Rock 2:58 later by receiving a nifty back-heel, no-look pass from Palermo that set up an opportunity for her to plant a shot above the keeper in the upper lefthand corner of the net. That strike put The Rock up 3-0 in the 42^nd minute, a lead that SRU would take into the half.
 
Slippery Rock continued to pace the Fighting Scots in the second half, tacking on a fourth goal in the 75^th minute. Yoder switched fields to the right sideline where Patrick settled the ball with one touch, crossing the ball back into the box where Munnikhuysen scored a header that gave The Rock a 4-0 advantage.
 
SRU peppered the Edinboro defense with seven more shots in the final 11 minutes, holding off any offensive opportunities the Fighting Scots came across. The Rock posted leads in shots (19-8), shots on goal (10-4) and corner kicks (10-1) through the contest.
 
Four of Edinboro's eight shots came off the foot of Kylee Cross, while Malave and relief keeper Kaylee Lauriel, who played the final 65 minutes, combined for six saves.
 
Slippery Rock's opponent for the PSAC Tournament Quarterfinals has yet to be determined, but it knows it will travel to either Gannon University or Indiana University (Pa.) for the opening round of the playoffs Nov. 12. More details regarding SRU's 14^th consecutive trip to the PSAC Tournament including the game's kickoff time will be released at a later date.





To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official Athletic Communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).