ERIE, Pa. – The 21st-ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team opened Western Division play in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference with a convincing 20-9 win on the road at Gannon University Saturday from McConnell Family Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in PSAC West play with the win, while Gannon slips to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the division.
 
Things were tight for most of the first half with Gannon scoring the first goal and The Rock never being able to build an advantage of more than three goals until deep into the second period. The Golden Knights scored back-to-back goals to cut the SRU lead to 7-6 with 4:02 to play in the second, but it was all Slippery Rock from there. The Rock closed the half on a 4-1 run to lead11-7 at the break and then outshot Gannon 17-1 in the third period while opening the second half on a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game with a massive 54-16 advantage in total shots and also won the draw control battle 17-15 and finished with a 25-13 edge in ground balls. The Rock were 11-of-12 on clear attempts and limited Gannon to 9-of-16 with the defense forcing 13 turnovers.
 
Every healthy player on the roster made an appearance in the game, including three true freshmen that made their collegiate debuts. That group included Lauren Petty, who scored her first career goal, along with her sister Claire Petty and Alexis Krohmalney.
 
A total of 12 players tallied points in the game with seven players finishing with at least two points. Reagan Richeson and Grace Rotter combined for 14 points to lead the way with Richeson tallying five goals and handing out two assists and Rotter dishing out seven assists, which is tied for the second most helpers in a single-game in program history. Rotter also caused a team-high three turnovers.
 
Maddie Blazey finished with a career-high five points with three goals and two assists. Leora Owings added a hat trick, while Isabella Buono and Abby Fink each scored two goals and Krysta Frankowski chipped in one goal and one assist. Owings also contributed six draw controls, two caused turnovers and four ground balls.
 
Sydney Ulmer, Eryn Little, Ella Koslowski and Lauren Petty each scored one goal and Ava Dossier dished out one assist to round out the point scorers.
 
Paige Jenkins finished with a team-high seven draw controls to go along with two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Lily Ventresca earned the win in goal after playing the first half, allowing seven goals and recording two saves while facing 12 shots. Ava Drath played the second half, allowing two goals in the final three minutes and recording two saves on four shots faced.
 
Rayla Smith paced the Golden Knights with a hat trick, while Ella Todd added one goal and two assists and Charlie Hunter chipped in two goals and one assist. Haleigh Manning took the loss in goal after allowing 17 goals and recording 14 saves over the first 51:47. Riley Finnegan closed it out, recording one save and allowing the final three goals over the last 8:13.
 
Saturday's game marked the end of a five-game road swing for Slippery Rock, which will return home for a pair of games next week for the first home action since March 1. The Rock will host Edinboro Wednesday at 4 p.m. and Indiana (Pa.) Saturday at noon.
 
 

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