2025 Roster  |  2025 Schedule |  2024 Stats
 
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team was picked to finish second in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division this spring, according to the PSAC Preseason Coaches Poll that was announced Thursday.
 
Seton Hill was picked atop the PSAC West with four first place votes and Slippery Rock was picked second with the remaining two first place votes. Lock Haven was picked third, followed by Indiana (Pa.), Gannon and Edinboro.
 
West Chester headlined the poll in the Eastern Division with five first place votes. Kutztown and East Stroudsburg each got one first place vote to finish second and third in the poll. Bloomsburg was picked fourth, followed by Millersville, Shepherd and Shippensburg.
 
The top three finishers in each division will advance to the PSAC Playoffs this spring with the top finisher in each division earning a first-round bye.
 
A brief preview of the 2025 Slippery Rock season can be found below.
 
COACHING STAFF
Slippery Rock is under the direction of head coach Taryn Burkholder, who returns for her fourth season in charge of the program. Burkholder guided Slippery Rock to at least 10 wins in each of her first three seasons, becoming the first coach in program history to string together three straight 10-win seasons. She was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year last year after leading The Rock to a program-record 15 wins and a No. 5 ranking in the Atlantic Region. The Rock also welcome back assistant coach Jordan Anderson for the fourth straight season. Anderson helped guide SRU goalie Gillian O'Rourke to All-Region honors last year.
 
2024 RECAP
Slippery Rock set a program record for single-season wins and closed the year with a 15-4 overall record last spring. That included a 10-2 mark in PSAC West action as The Rock finished second in the division by one game behind Seton Hill. SRU picked up its first modern-era postseason win with a victory in the opening round of the PSAC Playoffs and closed the year ranked No. 5 in the Atlantic Region, just narrowly missing out on a spot in the NCAA Playoffs.
 
2025 SCHEDULE
Slippery Rock will open the 2025 season on the road at Findlay Feb. 23. The Rock will play their first home game March 1 against D'Youville before heading out on a four-game swing that includes three games in South Carolina over spring break. PSAC West play begins March 22 at Gannon and continues through the final game of the regular season April 26.
 
In total, Slippery Rock is set to play nine road games and just six home games during the 2025 regular season.
 
ALL-REGION DEFENDER BACK
Sophomore Paige Jenkins became the second freshman in program history to earn All-Region honors last spring and she returns this year to lead the defensive unit. Jenkins started all 19 games last year and racked up 22 caused turnovers while leading all field players with 29 ground balls. She also finished second in the team with 66 draw controls, the highest total by a freshman in SRU history.
 
THREE ALL-PSAC DEFENDERS
Slippery Rock led all schools in the PSAC with eight selections to the All-PSAC team last year. Three of those honorees, all defenders, return for The Rock this year. Jenkins picked up first team All-PSAC honors while Nicole Masi and Hailey Ohlsen were both named to second team honors. Ohlsen led SRU last year with 24 caused turnovers, while Masi tallied 23 caused turnovers and Jenkins had 22. The Rock also return starter Amelia Nitsche, who started all 19 games last year and posted 12 caused turnovers and 17 ground balls, giving The Rock their entire starting defense returning this spring. SRU also returns Gemma Sciarroni and Mckenzie Murphy, who both saw action in 2024 as well.
 
A LOT TO REPLACE
Slippery Rock will have to replace five All-PSAC honorees and three All-Region selections, headlined by 2023 PSAC West Athlete of the Year Charleigh Rondeau, who was the best draw control specialist in the country over the last two years. SRU must also replace its top two scorers in Camryn Whipple and Lauren Searles, who combined to score 80 goals and hand out 61 assists in 2024. Rondeau and fellow midfielder Brooke Wisniewski combined for 53 goals and 218 draw controls with Rondeau leading all players in the country with an SRU record 190 draw controls. The Rock must also replace starting goalie Gillian O'Rourke, who went 15-4 with an 8.34 goals against average last spring.
 
RETURNING SCORERS AND MIDDIES
The Rock return sophomore Reagan Richeson, who ranked third on the team in scoring last year as a true freshman with 39 goals and four assists. SRU also welcomes back Krysta Frankowski, who was fourth in scoring last fall with 14 goals and 22 assists. Other top scorers from last spring that return this year include Isabella Buono (18 goals, 3 assists), Erin Melcher (12 goals, three assists), Maddie Blazey (9 goals, six assists) and Sydney Ulmer (13 goals, one assist). Ava Dossier (4g, 7a), Abby Fink (8g, 2a), Ella Koslowski (6g, 2a), Eryn Little (5g, 3a), Shannon Von Kaenel (6g) and Brooke Walters (1g) are also back after contributing to the offense last year.
 
INJURED PLAYERS RETURN
Slippery Rock will get a big boost with the return of a pair of injured midfielders with 2023 All-PSAC honoree Leora Owings set to return alongside Eryn Little. Owings missed the entire 2024 season, while Little missed most of the year before returning to play limited minutes down the stretch. Owings started 15 games as a freshman in 2023 and tallied 13 goals and seven assists to go along with 30 draw controls, 34 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers. Little has battled injuries for the last two years, appearing in just 17 games, but enters this season healthy and looking to return to the form that saw her tally 24 goals as a freshman in 2022.
 
TRANSFER ATTACKER
Slippery Rock added one transfer attacker this year with Grace Rotter coming over after the closure of Notre Dame College (Ohio). Rotter started 17 games at Notre Dame and tallied 33 points with 21 goals and 12 assists. She also grabbed 37 draw controls and 15 ground balls for the Falcons.
 
GOALIE SITUATION
Slippery Rock returns one goalie from last year in backup Lily Ventresca, who played just over 116 minutes as a true freshman and posted an 11.37 goals against average and a .353 save percentage. The Rock also added junior transfer Ava Drath, who appeared in 31 games over two seasons at Anderson University. She played just under 1,053 minutes and posted an 8.66 goals against average and a .483 save percentage while going 15-3 during her time in South Carolina.
 
SIX FRESHMEN JOIN PROGRAM
In addition to all of the returning players listed above, Slippery Rock will welcome six true freshmen to the program with a trio of attackers, two midfielders and one defender set to make their collegiate debuts. The attackers all have familial ties at The Rock with incoming sisters Lauren Petty and Claire Petty joining newcomer Emily Frankowski, the younger sister of SRU senior Krysta Frankowski. The midfielders include Cadyn Eismann and Laurelle Surette and the defense is represented by Alexis Krohmalney.
 
LIVE COVERAGE IN 2025
All 16 regular season games, both home and away, will feature live statistics this spring and most will include live video broadcasts. All SRU home games and most PSAC away games will be broadcast for free on the Rock Athletics Digital Network, which can be viewed on any web browser or mobile device at rockathletics.com/video and can be viewed on smart TV devices including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Android TV. Simply search for "Rock Athletics" in the respective app stores on those devices to download the app for free. All live coverage links for each game will be posted to the schedule page before each game and a full preview of each game will be posted to RockAthletics.com the day before each contest.
 
2025 PSAC WOMEN'S LACROSSE PRESEASON POLL
 
WEST (# of first place votes)
1. Seton Hill (4)
2. Slippery Rock (2)
3. Lock Haven
4. Indiana (Pa.)
5. Gannon
6. Edinboro
 
EAST (# of first place votes)
1. West Chester (5)
2. Kutztown (1)
3. East Stroudsburg (1)
4. Bloomsburg
5. Millersville
6. Shepherd
7. Shippensburg
 
 


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