GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - The Slippery Rock University field hockey team scored four goals in the second half to earn a 5-4 victory Sunday at Adelphi University.
The victory pushes Slippery Rock's record to a flawless 2-0 while Adelphi drops to 0-4. The win gives SRU its first 2-0 start to a season since 2018.
Gianna Conti led SRU to the win by turning in a five-point performance on two goals and one assist. The two-goal outburst serves as Conti's third multi-score game of her Slippery Rock career.
For the second time in as many games,
Bailee Christman found the back of the cage as part of a one-goal, one-assist effort. Christman now has three goals in 2024.
Feli Stockler and
Leslie Colliver rounded out The Rock's goal scorers with one apiece while
Hazara Sandhu,
Hilary Hoffman and
Haley Metcalf were all credited with assists.
Defensively, goalkeeper
Grace Burker made six saves and
Christina Clymer posted an important defensive save.
Slippery Rock jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter after a nicely executed penalty corner that saw Colliver play the entry pass to Handhu who fired a pass back to Colliver followed by The Rock's senior sliding a shot in from the near side past Adelphi goalie Tayla Szmak at 7:55.
SRU's lead was short lived as AU quickly answered back four minutes later when Lana Mignont beat Burker on a penalty stroke as the game headed into the second quarter tied 1-1.
Adelphi nearly took its first lead of the game in the 18th minute on a penalty corner only for Clymer to make a great defensive save on a Sydney Rossacci attempt, keeping the game deadlocked. However, the Panthers' pressure eventually broke through The Rock's backline when Amanda Lee beat Burker to finish off Adelphi's fifth corner of the game in the 26th minute.
The Panthers' lead held until late in the third quarter when Conti deflected a Christman attempt past Szmak for game-tying goal in the 41st minute.
The game remained even at 2-2 until a wild fourth quarter that saw both teams combine for five goals in the final 12 minutes.
Slippery Rock appeared poised to put the game away early in the fourth quarter when Stockler and Conti registered goals less than four minutes apart to give SRU a seemingly comfortable 4-2 edge.
The Rock once again made the most of a penalty corner attempt on Stockler's goal. Hoffman found the freshman with a cross circle pass, allowing Stockler to slip a shot in to an empty cage for her first collegiate goal.
Conti's second goal of the afternoon occurred when she tipped in a pass from Metcalf by an Adelphi defender at 52:49.
Adelphi answered back just 47 seconds later with a goal of its own to pull back to within one goal only for Slippery Rock to add its fifth and final tally of the game with just three minutes to play after Conti found Christman dead center of the cage, allowing the veteran scorer to easily send in a shot and give SRU another two-goal advantage.
However, the final three minutes of the fourth quarter was not without drama. The Panthers once again cut their deficit to just one goal by way of a goal at 58:09 followed by a chaotic final minute of regulation which saw Adelphi earn three penalty corners only for The Rock to clear all attempts and close out the 5-4 win.
For the game, Adelphi held team advantages over The Rock in total shots (22-15), shots on goal (11-9) and penalty corners (14-12). Caroline Beakes scored twice to lead the Panthers' attack.
Slippery Rock will look to maintain its perfect start to the year 12 p.m. Monday at No. 9 Pace University.
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