GREENWOOD, S.C. – The Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team will close its spring break trip Saturday with a 1 p.m. game at Lander University in South Carolina.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
•  Live Stats: LINK
•  Live Video: LINK
 
GAME 5 DETAILS
• Opponent: Lander University
• Date: Saturday, March 16, 2024  |  1 p.m.
• Location: Van Taylor Stadium  |  Greenwood, S.C.
• All-Time Series: First Meeting
• Current Streak: First Meeting
 
RECORDS
Slippery Rock enters the game with a 3-1 record after dropping its first game of the year in heartbreaking fashion Wednesday at No. 24 Mount Olive. The nationally ranked Trojans earned a 12-11 win in double overtime after erasing a 7-2 halftime lead by SRU. Lander, which was receiving votes in this week's national poll, enters the game with a 3-3 overall record with all three losses coming to nationally ranked opponents (Wingate, Embry-Riddle, Limestone). The Bearcats are coming off a 20-7 win over Montevallo last Sunday.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
This will mark the first time in the history of both programs that these teams will meet in the sport of women's lacrosse.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Overall Record: 3-1
• PSAC Record: 0-0
• Home Record: 2-0
• Away Record: 1-1
• Streak: Lost 1
• Last Five Games: 3-2 (dating back to 2023)
• Head Coach: Taryn Burkholder (3rd season, Niagara '12)  |  Record: 23-15
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock jumped out to a 7-2 halftime lead on the road at No. 24 Mount Olive Wednesday before the Trojans outscored SRU 7-1 in the third quarter to storm back into the game. The Rock were down 11-9 in the closing minutes, but scored twice in the last three minutes to tie the game at 11-11 and force overtime. SRU had multiple chances to win it in OT and outshot UMO 4-1 in the first OT period, but could not find the winner. The Trojans scored the sudden-goal winner with 3:59 to play in the second OT. SRU was paced by hat tricks from Lauren Searles and Isabella Buono. Charleigh Rondeau had one goal and one assist to go along with a game-high nine draw controls. Gillian O'Rourke made 11 saves, including four in the fourth quarter. SRU put up a 17-10 advantage in draw controls, while UMO managed a 33-27 edge in shots.
 
MIDDLE OF A TOUGH STRETCH
Slippery Rock is in the middle of playing three games back-to-back-to-back against teams that appear in this week's Division II national poll, beginning Wednesday with No. 24 Mount Olive. The Rock now travel to Lander Saturday, which is receiving votes in this week's poll, before returning home to open the PSAC West schedule against No. 25 Seton Hill March 23.
 
ROCK RANKED NO. 1 IN SCORING DEFENSE
Slippery Rock enters this weekend ranked No. 1 in Division II in scoring defense, allowing just 5.5 goals per game through the first four games of the season. The Rock rank seventh in the nation in scoring margin, outscoring opponents by 9.75 goals per game.
 
ROCK IN THE DIVISION II RANKINGS
Slippery Rock enters this game ranked No. 2 in the nation in draw controls, winning 68.1 percent of all draws through four games. The Rock rank 13th in assists per game at 8.25 per game, 13th in save percentage at .500 and 14th in shooting percentage at 53.5 percent.
 
O'ROURKE RANKED NO. 1 IN DIVISION II
Goalie Gillian O'Rourke enters the weekend ranked No. 1 in Division II in goals against average, allowing just 4.95 goals per every 60 minutes between the posts. She also ranks fifth nationally in save percentage with a .538 number.
 
RONDEAU IN THE DRAW CIRCLE
Charleigh Rondeau owns the SRU single-game (18), single-season (144) and career (390) records for draw controls. She enters this weekend ranked No. 9 in Division II this spring, averaging 7.5 draw controls per game. Her 390 career draw controls rank No. 3 among all active Division II players.
 
WHIPPLE RACKING UP ASSISTS
Camryn Whipple has 10 assists over her last three games to bring her career total to 38 assists and move her up to No. 9 on the all-time career ledger at SRU. She is seven assists away from cracking the top five on the program's career list. Whipple enters this week averaging 3.0 assists per game this season, which ranks No. 8 among all players in Division II.
 
PAIR OF HATTYS FOR THE FRESHMAN
Freshman attacker Isabella Buono has scored at least one goal in each of the first four games of her career and already has two hat tricks to her name. She has tallied eight goals to go along with six caused turnovers and six ground balls while making an immediate impact in her true freshman season.
 
OHLSEN LEADING THE DEFENSE
Hailey Ohlsen enters this weekend leading all players on the roster with seven caused turnovers and nine ground balls. Nicole Masi has added five caused turnovers and eight ground balls, while Amelia Nitsche has five caused turnovers and three ground balls. Masi picked up four ground balls at Mount Olive to bring her career total to 50. Paige Jenkins, who is also in her true freshman season, has one caused turnover but has contributed 14 draw controls and six ground balls to round out the starting defensive rotation.
 
BALANCED SCORING
Slippery Rock has a total of 13 players that have scored at least one point on the year, led by Camryn Whipple with 19 points (7g, 12a) and Lauren Searles with 14 points (11g, 3a). Charleigh Rondeau (6g, 6a) and Brooke Wisniewski (11g) round out the players with double digit points through four games. Rachel Mahoney (6g, 2a), Isabella Buono (8g), Krysta Frankowski (1g, 5a), Maddie Blazey (3g, 2a), Ella Koslowski (3g), Erin Melcher (1g, 2a) Sydney Ulmer (2g), Ava Dossier (1g, 1a) and Reagan Richeson (1g) round out the scorers.
 
CAREER GAMES PLAYED
Charleigh Rondeau enters this game with 54 career games under her belt, while Rachel Mahoney and Gillian O'Rourke have both played in 49 career games. The SRU record for career games played is 68, set by four players (Brittany Brewer, Katie Roof, Amy Halls and Emma VanDenburg).
 
MILESTONE WATCH (50-100-150…etc.)
• #3 Nicole Masi: 0 GB from 50, 21 CT from 50
• #4 Rachel Mahoney: 4 pts from 50
• #11 Lauren Searles: 32 pts from 100
• #12 Amelia Nitsche: 6 GB from 50, 10 CT from 50
• #16 Eryn Little: 19 goals from 50, 18 pts from 50, 17 DC from 50
• #19 Charleigh Rondeau: 16 pts from 100, 17 GB from 100, 0 CT from 50, 10 DC from 400
• #20 Camryn Whipple: 3 goals from 50, 15 pts from 100, 22 GB from 50
• #22 Krysta Frankowski: 24 pts from 50
• #26 Hailey Ohlsen: 7 CT from 50, 35 GB from 100
• #32 Gillian O'Rourke: 27 saves from 400, 10 GB from 150
• #34 Brooke Wisniewski: 41 goals from 100, 35 pts from 100, 17 GB from 50, 27 DC from 100
 
LANDER PRIMER (Roster, Schedule, Stats)
• Overall Record: 3-3
• Gulf South Record: 1-0
• Home Record: 2-0
• Away Record: 1-2
• Neutral Record: 0-1
• Streak: Won 1
• Last Five Games: 3-2
• Head Coach: Bob Dachille (5th season, Wake Forest '07)  |  Record: 31-30
 
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Lander is outscoring opponents 89-76 despite being outshot 181-158 through six games. The Bearcats have posted slim advantages of 117-114 in ground balls and 77-69 in caused turnovers, while opponents own a 99-77 edge in draw controls.
 
Six players on the roster have double digit points on the year, led by Emmy Peterson with 32 points on 20 goals and 12 assists. Alyssa Suchan has 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points and Mickey Burnett has 16 goals and four assists to give the Bearcats three players with at least 20 points. Izzy Olson (10g, 5a) leads the team with 24 draw controls while Ella Benson (9g, 5a) and Kasey Bronco (9g, 2a) round out the leading scorers.
 
Former Slippery Rock player Brooke Kelly ranks seventh on the team with three goals and six assists to go along with 14 draw controls. Kelly was a standout freshman at SRU in 2022, scoring 17 goals and handing out 14 assists to rank fourth on the team in scoring. She transferred to Lander following the 2022 season and scored 48 goals for the Bearcats in 2023.
 
Autumn Huskey leads the defense with 17 caused turnovers and 20 ground balls. Three goalies have played at least 30 minutes in goal this season, led by Kara Krusbe with 225 minutes in the cage. She owns a 1-3 record with a 15.20 goals against average and a .352 save percentage. Taryn Simmons has played just over 100 minutes and is 2-0 with a 10.12 goals against average and a .500 save percentage.
 
NEXT UP
Slippery Rock will return home and have a week to prepare to open the PSAC West portion of its schedule when No. 25 Seton Hill visits next Saturday, March 23, for a noon game.




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