GREENSBURG, Pa. – The 22nd-ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team took over sole possession of first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division with a 16-11 upset win on the road at No. 14 Seton Hill University Wednesday from Dick's Sporting Goods Field.
 
The win improves The Rock to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in the PSAC West and puts SRU one game ahead of Seton Hill in the division standings. The Griffins slip to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in PSAC West action with their fourth loss to a ranked opponent this year.
 
Slippery Rock improves to 4-1 on the road at teams that are either ranked or receiving votes and picks up its second upset road win over a top 15 ranked opponent after also defeating No. 9 East Stroudsburg 12-6 earlier this season.
 
The Griffins scored the first two goals of the game to jump out to a 2-0 lead before Slippery Rock poured in five goals the rest of the period to take a 5-4 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Rock continued the run, putting together a 9-3 rally altogether to take a 9-5 lead into halftime. SRU extended the lead to 11-5 early in the second half to cap a 7-1 run that spanned from midway through the second quarter to early in the third.
 
Seton Hill capitalized on multiple woman-up situations and a hot streak in the draw circle to claw the deficit back to two goals at 13-11 with 5:20 to play, but The Rock slammed the door and tallied three more insurance goals in the final five minutes to come away with the 16-11 win.
 
Slippery Rock outshot Seton Hill 35-22 overall, but just 23-17 in shots on goal as 12 shots missed the target. The Rock also managed a 12-10 edge in caused turnovers, while the Griffins put up a 16-14 edge in draw controls. Both teams finished with 21 ground balls. SRU was much more efficient on the clear, going 14-of-17 and limited SHU to 12-of-18.
 
Leora Owings tallied a team-high five points for SRU with one goal and four assists while also pulling down a team-high six draw controls. Eryn Little netted a season-high four goals, while Reagan Richeson chipped in three goals and one assist and Grace Rotter scored two goals and handed out two helpers.
 
Abby Fink also netted a hat trick with three goals and Isabella Buono scored two goals and had one assist to give SRU six players with at least three points. Erin Melcher tallied one goal and Ava Dossier handed out one assist to round out the point scorers.
 
Paige Jenkins and Amelia Nitsche each finished with two caused turnovers to lead the defense with Jenkins grabbing three draw controls and two ground balls and Nitsche picking up two ground balls. Mckenzie Murphy also nabbed four ground balls.
 
Goalie Lily Ventresca remained unbeaten on the year and helped out the defensive effort with three caused turnovers and four ground balls to go along with six saves.
 
Skylar Orlowski led the SHU attack with four goals and one assist, while Mila Udovicic added one goal, three assists and a game-high seven draw controls. Allison Hathaway took the loss in goal after allowing 16 goals while recoding seven saves.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its attention to closing out the first round of PSAC West divisional play with a noon game Saturday on the road at Lock Haven.
 
 
 

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