SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team will host Mercyhurst University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game Friday at 4 p.m. at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
GAME PROGRAM INFO
Slippery Rock has moved away from printed game programs. This page will serve as the "Digital Game Program" for this week's game. To navigate to all gameday info for any SRU home events this year, simply visit rockathletics.com/gameday or scan the QR code on the "Gameday Info" posters hanging in each facility.
 

Slippery Rock vs. Mercyhurst
The Rock (7-2, 3-1)	Mercyhurst Lakers (2-6, 1-3)
Roster	Roster
Schedule	Schedule
Statistics	Statistics
Coach Taryn Burkholder	Coach Lindsay Weaver
Program Records	No record book online
PSAC Standings  |  PSAC Stats  |  PSAC Schedule
Mihalik-Thompson Stadium

 
SPECTATOR INFO
There will be no admission or parking charges for this game. Fans are reminded that there are NO PETS allowed in any SRU athletics facilities. Please do not bring dogs or any other pets to the game. You will be asked to remove your pet from the facility. Parking is available on a first-come basis in the lots immediately surrounding the stadium.
 
PEGGY OHLSEN DEDICATION GAME
The Rock will honor the memory of Peggy Ohlsen, mother of SRU defender Hailey Ohlsen, who passed away in December after a battle with breast cancer. Donations in support of the fight against breast cancer can be made in Peggy's name to the New York Cancer Foundation HERE. Donations will also be accepted at the game and the SRU team will wear special shirts during pregame warmups.

LIVE COVERAGE
•  Live Stats: LINK
•  Live Video: LINK
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV - "ROCK ATHLETICS DIGITAL NETWORK" APPS
• Fans can watch the game live and on-demand for free on the Rock Athletics Digital Network, created and operated by the SRU Athletic Communication Office.
 • Search for "Rock Athletics Digital Network" in the app stores on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku and Android TV devices.
 
GAME 10 DETAILS
• Opponent: Mercyhurst University
• Date: Friday, April 5, 2024  |  4 p.m.
• Location: Mihalik-Thompson Stadium  |  Slippery Rock, Pa.
• All-Time Series: Mercyhurst leads 20-1
• Current Streak: Mercyhurst +11
• Last Meeting: April 29, 2023 at SRU – Mercyhurst won 9-7
 
RECORDS
Slippery Rock enters the game with a 7-2 overall record and a 3-1 mark in PSAC West action with the only two losses this spring coming against nationally ranked teams. The Rock dropped a 12-11 double overtime game at No. 24 Mount Olive and fell 17-7 against No. 25 Seton Hill. SRU is riding a three-game winning streak in the division with wins over Lock Haven, IUP and Gannon in the last nine days. Mercyhurst enters the game with a 2-6 overall record and a 1-3 mark in PSAC games. The Lakers snapped a five-game losing skid Wednesday with a 15-8 win at Edinboro.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES  |  Game-by-Game Scores
Mercyhurst owns a 20-1 advantage in the all-time series that began in 2008 and is likely to end later this month. The Lakers have won the last 11 straight meetings with the lone SRU win coming against then No. 6 Mercyhurst back in 2015. Nine of the last 11 meetings have been decided by four goals or less and eight of the last 11 were decided by three goals or fewer. Mercyhurst swept both games last season, winning 13-10 in Erie and 9-7 at SRU.
 
LAST MEETING – APRIL 29, 2023  |  Box Score
Mercyhurst jumped out to a 5-2 lead and then held off a rally from Slippery Rock to earn a 9-7 win in the regular season finale at SRU last spring, which clinched a tiebreaker over The Rock for the final playoff spot in the PSAC West. SRU tied the game at 7-7 early in the fourth quarter, but Mercyhurst responded with a pair of goals and held SRU off the scoreboard for the final 12:50 of the game to earn the 9-7 win. The Lakers posted a 27-22 edge in total shots, while SRU put up advantages of 11-9 in draw controls, 23-19 in ground balls and 11-7 in caused turnovers. Camryn Whipple scored a hat trick to lead SRU and Gillian O'Rourke made eight saves in goal. Mercyhurst got three goals and one assist from Victoria Getzoff and nine saves from Paige Maneri.  
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Overall Record: 7-2
• PSAC Record: 3-1
• Home Record: 3-1
• Away Record: 4-1
• Streak: Won 3
• Last Five Games: 4-1
• Head Coach: Taryn Burkholder (3rd season, Niagara '12)  |  Record: 27-16
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock scored 11 goals in the first half on the way to a convincing 18-6 win over Gannon Wednesday at home. The Rock posted a massive 23-3 advantage in draw controls and outshot the Golden Knights 38-12. Camryn Whipple scored four goals and Lauren Searles scored three goals and had one assist. Charleigh Rondeau added two goals, three caused turnovers, three ground balls and 14 draw controls. Gillian O'Rourke allowed just three goals and made four saves while playing 47 minutes in goal.
 
THREE GAME PSAC WEST WIN STREAK
Slippery Rock is riding a three-game winning streak with all three wins coming in PSAC West action. It marks the first time since late in the 2022 season that SRU has strung together three straight wins in PSAC West play.
 
FOURTH BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
The 7-2 start to this season marks the best start by an SRU team since 2017 when The Rock won their first seven games and jumped out to a 9-1 start. It also marks the fourth best start in program history. The only other times SRU won at least seven games before reaching a third loss were 1983 (11-2-1), 1989 (9-2) and 2017 (9-2).
 
O'ROURKE GOES OVER 400 SAVES
Goalie Gillian O'Rourke became the all-time goalie wins leader at SRU earlier this season and has climbed up to No. 2 all-time at SRU in career saves with 403 stops. Her four saves Wednesday brought her over the 400-save mark, making her the second goalie in program history to top 400 saves. Last week's PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week, O'Rourke is 7-2 on the season and has played well during the three-game winning streak. She has recorded 23 saves over the last three games and enters this game ranked No. 11 in Division II in goals against average with an 8.18 GAA.
 
PAIR OF SENIORS MOVING UP SCORING LEDGER
Seniors Camryn Whipple and Charleigh Rondeau are both in the top 20 all-time scorers in program history entering this game. Whipple, who has already set a single-season career-high in points this spring, is up to 108 points and has moved up to No. 14 all-time at SRU. Four more points would move her into a tie for 12th. Rondeau, who owns all the draw control records at SRU, is now up to No. 20 on the scoring ledger with 91 points. She is nine points shy of becoming the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career points.
 
WHIPPLE MOVING UP ASSIST RECORD BOOK
Senior attacker Camryn Whipple has racked up 42 points on 21 goals and 21 assists this spring, which is already a new career-high for her. The 21 assists this season rank tied for fifth on the SRU single-season record list. She is now up to 47 career assists over the last three seasons, which ranks fifth all-time at SRU. She needs just three more assists to become the fourth player in program history to reach 50 career assists.
 
RICHESON EARNS STARTING JOB
Freshman attacker Reagan Richeson entered the game at Lock Haven last Wednesday with one goal in the first six games of her career, but was forced to play extended minutes for the first time after senior attacker and leading goal scorer Lauren Searles was shown a red card in the second quarter. That meant Searles would also miss the game Saturday at IUP. Richeson stepped up in a big way, scoring four goals in the final three periods at LHU, including the game-winner with just over five minutes to play. She then tallied a second straight hat trick with three goals at IUP and added two more goals in the win over Gannon for a total of nine goals in the last three games.
 
DEFENSE HAS BEEN SOLID
Slippery Rock limited Gannon to just 13-of-23 on clear attempts and enters this game ranked No. 20 in Division II in scoring defense with opponents averaging 9.22 goals per game. Hayley Ohlsen and Charleigh Rondeau lead the team with 12 caused turnovers each, while Nicole Masi is third on the team with 11. Masi and Ohlsen lead all field players with 16 ground balls each. Amelia Nitsche has seven caused turnovers and Paige Jenkins has six to go along with 33 draw controls.
 
RONDEAU LEADS PSAC IN DRAW CIRCLE
Charleigh Rondeau owns the SRU single-game (18), single-season (144) and career (434) records for draw controls. She became the first player in SRU history to reach 400 career draw controls earlier this season and now has 74 draws on the season. Her 434 draw controls are 100+ more than any other active PSAC player and rank No. 3 among all active players in Division II. This spring, Rondeau ranks seventh nationally and first in the PSAC in draw controls per game, averaging 8.22. She is coming off her best performance of the year with 14 against Gannon Wednesday.
 
SCORING LEADERS
Slippery Rock enters this game with eight players with double-digit points on the year, led by Camryn Whipple with 42 points on 21 goals and 21 assists. Lauren Searles is second in points with 17 goals and five assists for 22 points, followed by Charleigh Rondeau with 19 points on 12 goals and seven assists and Brooke Wisniewski (18g) and Krysta Frankowski (7g, 11a) with 18 points each. Freshman Isabella Buono (12g, 3a) and Rachel Mahoney have 15 points each and Reagan Richeson has 10 goals with nine coming in the last three games.
 
FIELD STATS
Charleigh Rondeau leads the team by a wide margin with 74 draw controls and also has 12 caused turnovers and grabbed 13 ground balls. Paige Jenkins ranks second on the team with 33 draw controls. Hailey Ohlsen leads the defense with 12 caused turnovers and 16 ground balls, both of which are team-highs.
 
GOALIE NUMBERS
Gillian O'Rourke has started eight games in goal this spring and has been the goalie of record in all nine games, playing a total of 440 minutes. She owns a 7-2 record with an 8.18 goals against average and a .459 save percentage. Lily Ventresca has played just shy of 79 minutes and Izzie Sutton has played 30 minutes. The trio have combined for a 9.07 goals against average and a .424 save percentage.
 
SRU'S NUMBERS AGAINST THE OPPOSITION
Slippery Rock is outscoring opponents 128-83 and outshooting the opposition 207-144 through nine games. The Rock have also posted advantages of 149-89 in draw controls. Opponents have a slight edge of 88-87 in caused turnovers and 153-152 in ground balls. SRU is 123-for-149 on clear attempts this season for a successful percentage of 82.6 percent on clears, while opponents are 118-for-157 (75.2%).
 
CAREER GAMES PLAYED
Charleigh Rondeau enters this game with 59 career games under her belt, while Brooke Wisniewski has appeared in 55 games and Rachel Mahoney and Gillian O'Rourke have both played in 54 career games. The SRU record for career games played is 68, set by four players (Brittany Brewer, Katie Roof, Amy Halls and Emma VanDenburg).
 
WISNIEWSKI INTO TOP 10 ON CONSECUTIVE STARTS LIST
Senior midfielder Brooke Wisniewski enters this game with 43 consecutive starts, a streak that began with the first game of the 2022 season. That number ranks her tied for 10th all-time at SRU in consecutive starts. She can move up to ninth with two more starts and can become the ninth player in SRU history to start 50 straight games if she starts the next seven games.
 
MILESTONE WATCH (50-75-100-150…etc.)
• #3 Nicole Masi: 17 GB from 75, 15 CT from 50
• #4 Rachel Mahoney: 22 pts from 75
• #11 Lauren Searles: 24 pts from 100, 15 goals from 75
• #12 Amelia Nitsche: 1 GB from 50, 8 CT from 50
• #16 Eryn Little: 19 goals from 50, 18 pts from 50, 17 DC from 50
• #19 Charleigh Rondeau: 9 pts from 100, 6 GB from 100, 17 CT from 75, 16 DC from 450
• #20 Camryn Whipple: 14 goals from 75, 3 assists from 50, 17 pts from 125, 16 GB from 50
• #22 Krysta Frankowski: 12 pts from 50
• #26 Hailey Ohlsen: 2 CT from 50, 28 GB from 100
• #32 Gillian O'Rourke: 23 saves from 425, 1 GB from 150
• #34 Brooke Wisniewski: 9 goals from 75, 3 pts from 75, 13 GB from 50, 19 DC from 100
 
MERCYHURST PRIMER
• Overall Record: 2-6
• PSAC Record: 1-3
• Home Record: 2-2
• Away Record: 0-4
• Streak: Won 1
• Last Five Games: 1-4
• Head Coach: Lindsay Weaver (1st season, Christopher Newport '18)  |  Record: 2-6
 
SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Mercyhurst snapped a five-game losing skid Wednesday with a 15-8 win over Edinboro at home. The Lakers are still looking for their first road win and enter this game with an 0-4 mark in games played outside of Erie.
 
Mercyhurst, which announced Thursday that all of its sports will transition to Division I beginning in the fall of 2024, enters this game being outscored 111-76 on the year with opponents outshooting the Lakers 229-211. Opponents have also posted advantages of 122-89 in draw controls and 116-97 in ground balls.
 
Five players have reached double figure points on the season, led by Whitley Easton with 25 points in 15 goals and 10 assists. Emma Cimino has 16 goals and one assist for 17 points, followed by Amanda Bailey with eight goals and three assists for 11 points and Marlee Antinora (6g, 4a) and Gabby McGinn (2g, 8a) with 10 points each. Elle Schau leads the team with 21 draw controls and Stephanie VanRiper paces the defense with nine caused turnovers.
 
Paige Maneri has played just shy of 386 minutes in goal and is 2-5 with a 14.30 goals against average and a .348 save percentage. AJ Jameson has played just under 77 minutes and is 0-1 with a 10.93 goals against average and a .391 save percentage.
 
NEXT UP
Slippery Rock will close out the first round of PSAC West divisional play next Wednesday with a trip to Edinboro for a 4 p.m. game. The Rock will then open the second round of divisional games April 17 at home against Lock Haven.
 
 


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