SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Fresh off a six-goal victory at Edinboro, the Slippery Rock University women's soccer team will look to remain in the win column when it embarks for Clarion 1 p.m. Saturday.
 
The Rock bring a 2-2-2 overall record into the weekend as well as a 2-1-1 mark within the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division. The Golden Eagles are looking for their first PSAC West win of the year, 1-5 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
 
WATCH LIVE
Fans can watch Wednesday's game live for free via the links below provided by Clarion Athletic Communications.
 
GAME 7 of 17
Opponent: Clarion
Date: Saturday – 1 p.m.
Location: Clarion, Pennsylvania
Venue: Memorial Stadium
Live Video: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Live Stats: Clarion Athletic Communications
In-game Updates: X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: Slippery Rock leads, 28-1-3
Current Streak: Slippery Rock W1
Last Played: Oct. 14, 2023 (SRU won, 2-1)
 
TOP ACTIVE SRU CAREER STATS vs. CLARION
Sydney Patrick – 8 points: 2 goals, 4 assists, 10 shots, 6 SOG (6 GP)
Skylar Munnikhuysen – 6 points: 3 goals, 7 shots, 4 SOG (4 GP)
Morgan Sarver – 6 points: 2 goals, 2 assists, 15 shots, 7 SOG (4 GP)
Maddie DeLucio – 3 points: 1 goal, 1 assist, 11 shots, 6 SOG (6 GP)
Leah Allman – (1-0-1), 1.50 GAA, 3 saves on 13 SF (2 GP)
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Rock and the Golden Eagles will meet for the 33^rd time Saturday, a series that Slippery Rock has taken 28 wins in. Clarion's lone win in the 23-year history of the matchup came in 2021, upsetting a 23^rd-ranked SRU team with a 2-1 victory. The two sides have also tied three times including a 2-2 draw last year at James Egli Field.
 
SRU is 14-1-2 when traveling to Clarion, picking up a 2-1 win on the road last season. Brooke Riefenstahl (36') and Morgan Sarver (44') gave The Rock a 2-0 advantage in the first half, while Clarion cut into its deficit with a 53^rd-minute goal. Slippery Rock was able to hold Clarion at bay, accumulating leads in shots (15-7), shots on goal (10-3) and corners (7-0).
 

TEAM COMPARISON
The Rock	Stats	Clarion
2-2-2	Overall Record	1-5
2-1-1	PSAC West Record	0-4
1.8	Goals per Game	1.0
1.2	Opp. Goals per Game	2.5
+4	Season Goal Differential	-9
15.3	Shots per Game	9.8
11.7	Opp. Shots per Game	19.5
7.0	SOG per Game	4.8
5.7	Opp. SOG per Game	8.3
1.5	Assists per Game	0.8
5.8	Corners per Game	2.7
7.5	Fouls per Game	7.2
4.5	Saves per Game	3.8

 
THE ROCK BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 2-2-2
PSAC West Record: 2-1-1
Home Record: 0-0-1
Away Record: 2-2-1
Streak: W1
Last Five: 2-2-1
PSAC West Rank: 3^rd of 8
Head Coach: Jessica Giegucz | 10^th season at SRU (97-44-22, .663)
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
 
LAST TIME OUT
SRU left little doubt as to whom the winner would be Sept. 25 at Edinboro, cruising to a 6-0 win over the Fighting Scots. Slippery Rock entered halftime with a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by Libby Zacharyasz (16') and Sophia Palermo (37'), adding four more scores in the second half from Faith Diffenbacher (51'), Bailey McGee (60'), Sarver (73') and Olivia Yoder (88').
 
SRU maintained advantages in shots (18-8), shots on goal (9-3) and corner kicks (7-4). Nine different players took shots for Slippery Rock, led by Sarver and Zacharyasz with four apiece. Leah Allman made three stops in the shutout win.
 
LEADING THE ROCK
Sydney Patrick's three assists at Edinboro brings her total on the year to five, totaling seven points having also scored one goal. On top of leading the team in points, Patrick has taken a team-high six shots on goal.
 
Sarver and Zacharyasz both have four points on two goals as the two players with the most shots on the roster. Zacharyasz has fired a team-leading 15 shots with five on target, while Sarver has placed four of her 13 total shots on net. Together, the duo has combined 30.4 percent (28-of-92) of Slippery Rock's shots this season.
 
With one goal and one assist – both earned at Edinboro – McGee ranks fourth on the team with three points. Four players have two points on one goal: DeLucio, Diffenbacher, Palermo and Yoder.
 
Likewise, three players go into the seventh game of the year with one point from one assist: Ava Balazentis, Kierstyn Maxey and Sydney Smith.
 
Behind Sarver and Zacharyasz leading the team in shots, DeLucio has taken nine looks to score, while four players have tallied eight shot attempts in Diffenbacher, Patrick, Yoder and Jaime Dermotta.
 
SIX ONE WAY, HALF A DOZEN THE OTHER
No matter how it is said, Slippery Rock's six goals at Edinboro marked the team's highest offensive production since posting a 7-0 win over Clarion Sept. 8, 2021 – a span of 60 games.
 
SRU's 6-0 win went down as the program's largest win over Edinboro in school history, a series that now includes 42 meetings dating to 1996.
 
The victory also marked Slippery Rock's largest road win in seven years, needing to go back to a 7-0 win at Mansfield University in 2017 to find the most recent away win by six goals or more. This was just the 10^th time in school history that SRU had defeated a team on the road by six goals or more:
 
Rock women's soccer largest road wins:
1. 12-0 @ Pitt-Bradford (Sept. 22, 1996)
T2. 7-0 @ Mansfield (Sept. 9, 2017)
T2. 7-0 @ Salem University (Oct. 27, 2001)
T2. 7-0 @ Saint Vincent College (Sept. 17, 1994)
T5. 6-0 (Six Times as of Sept. 25, 2024)
 
ONE AWAY FROM THE TOP
Patrick's hat trick of assists at Edinboro pushed her career tally to 26 total assists, tied with Ashley Paganie for most all-time in Rock women's soccer history.
 
Patrick began the season ranked seventh with 21 assists. She jumped past a two-way tie for second between Meghan McGrath (2003-07) and Karen Kane-Grimes (1994-97) who each recorded 25 assists in their time at The Rock.
 
The senior from Greensburg, Pennsylvania has now racked up 52 total points on 13 goals and 26 assists. She has been in the starting lineup for all 64 career games that she has appeared in, one of just four SRU women's soccer players all-time to start more than 60 consecutive games.
 
Patrick is coming off her best year at SRU yet, in which she led the team with 23 points on six goals and 11 assists. She received Second Team All-PSAC West honors and was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region team as well.
 
SYD'S RANKING NATIONALLY
Patrick's 0.83 assists per game stack up fourth nationwide in Division II. Between Divisions I and II combined, only six women's soccer players in the country have recorded more assists per game than Patrick:
 
Assists per game (Divisions I* & II)
1. Sarah Schupansky (1.09, Pitt*)
T2. Faith Matter (1.00, West Chester)
T2. Evan O'Leary (1.00, Lenoir-Rhyne)
T2. Lucia Revuelto (1.00, Union (Tenn.))
T5. Lucia Mansilla Medina (0.88, Saint Peter's*)
T5. Erin Weir (0.88 Canisius*)
T7. Sydney Patrick (0.83, Slippery Rock)
 
A FEW FIRSTS AT EDINBORO
A team captain for 2024, McGee scored her first career goal at Edinboro. The sophomore midfielder gave The Rock a 4-0 lead in the 60^th minute when she dialed up a line drive from just outside the penalty box past the goalkeeper.
 
On top of her first goal, McGee also picked up her second career assist on the night's first goal. After Patrick took the first touch to a free kick, McGee sent a perfect cross from 40 yards out over to the far post where Zacharyasz was able to finish it off and put SRU on top, 1-0.
 
Maxey also claimed her first career point at Edinboro, delivering a sneaky through-ball to Sarver in the 73^rd minute. That goal gave SRU a 5-0 advantage over the Fighting Scots, as Maxey became the 11^th different player to earn a point this year for The Rock.
 
Palermo's goal was the second of her career, while Sarver picked up her 11^th, Zacharyasz her eighth, Diffenbacher her sixth, and Yoder her fourth goal in their respective careers at SRU.
 
PERSISTENT OFFENSE
Slippery Rock has now outshot its opponent in each of the last four games, adding up a cumulative 72-33 difference in that span. The Rock rank fourth in the PSAC with 15.3 shots per game and 6.0 corners per game.
 
ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET FOR LEAH
Allman made three saves against Edinboro in her eighth career shutout, the second of 2024. She joins a group of 14 different Rock women's soccer goalies that have earned at least eight shutouts in their career.
 
Only 23 goalkeepers have played more Division II soccer than Allman this season, who has been in net for all 540 possible minutes. She has faced 70 shots in that time frame, making 27 saves. The sophomore enters Clarion with a 1.17 GAA and a .794 save percentage.
 
HELP FROM THE DEFENSE
SRU's defense, led by Diffenbacher, Zacharyasz and Nina King, have held opponents to just 8.3 shots per game through the last four outings. In those games, Slippery Rock's defensive third has also limited teams to just 3.0 corner kicks and 4.5 shots on goal.
 
ARE WE THERE YET?
Slippery Rock's trip to Clarion will wrap up an opening month of the season that saw six of the team's first seven games on the road. Coming in with a 2-2-1 road record, The Rock will complete a month of travel that covered nearly 1,300 miles and 22 hours of drive time. Following Saturday, SRU will travel for just three of its last 10 games of the year.
 
Slippery Rock began the 2024 season looking to extend an eight-year streak of finishing above .500 on the road. Since going 5-5 when traveling in 2014, The Rock have constructed a 45-26-11 (.616) mark when playing on the road.
 
WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS
Entering Clarion with a 2-2-2 record, Slippery Rock is looking to put together a winning record in September for its 26^th consecutive season. The Rock have finished September at over .500 every year since going 3-4 in 1997.
 
Under head coach Jessica Giegucz (since 2015), SRU has gone 43-21-11 (.647) in games played in September.
 
RECORD WATCH
On top of her assists record, Patrick joins Sarver in the top 20 all-time in total shots attempted. Patrick has taken 109 total career shots, good enough for 17^th all-time and one away from 15^th. Sarver remains in 13^th position with 125 shots, eight away from the top 10.
 
Diffenbacher started her 44^th straight game at Edinboro, becoming one of just 10 women's soccer players at Slippery Rock all-time to accomplish such a streak. King started her 43^rd straight game, joining the top 15 all-time in SRU women's soccer history in that category.
 
In net, Allman recorded her 75^th career save against the Fighting Scots, needing just one more to enter the top 10. Emma Yoder leads all-time with 249 saves accumulated from 2018-22.
 
Head coach Giegucz picked up her 97^th win at Slippery Rock this week, closing in on her 100^th win as SRU's head coach. Giegucz, who was the head coach at Division III Northland College in 2014, earned her 100^th career win last season.
 
THE GOLDEN EAGLES BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 1-5
PSAC West Record: 0-4
Home Record: 1-1
Away Record: 0-4
PSAC West Rank: 8^th of 8
Streak: L5
Last Five: 0-5
Head Coach: Jason Edwards | Second season at Clarion (5-15-4, .292)
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
 
CLARION SCOUTING REPORT
The Golden Eagles are still in search of their first PSAC West win of the year, going 0-5 since winning their season opener over Ursuline College, 2-1. Clarion has allowed three goals in each of its last three games, falling to Edinboro, California (Pa.) and No. 2 Gannon University. Clarion began conference play with a 2-0 loss at Indiana University (Pa.) as well.
 
Ciara DiMauro, who tallied both of Clarion's goals at SRU last year in a 2-2 draw, leads the Golden Eagles with four points on two goals. The sophomore has put four of her seven shots on target. Marisa Colondrillo is the team's top shot-taker with 13 total attempts.
 
Sophomore Sage Sherk has been Clarion's top goalkeeper despite not being the goalie of record in the team's lone win. Sherk ranks fourth in the PSAC with 5.2 saves per game, coming into Saturday's fixture with a 2.44 GAA and a .703 save percentage. Alex Velez, who played one half against Ursuline, was Clarion's goalie for both games versus SRU last year.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Rock will face one of their toughest challenges of 2024 when they return home 4 p.m. Oct. 4 by hosting Gannon. The Golden Knights were ranked second nationally in last week's USC Division II poll.





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