EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The 12th ranked and No. 2 seeded Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team earned the first NCAA Tournament win in program history with a 9-6 victory on the road at 14^th ranked and No. 3 seeded East Stroudsburg University Saturday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament from Whitenight Field.
 
The Rock improve to 17-2 overall and advance to the national quarterfinals as one of the eight teams remaining in the hunt for a national championship. The Warriors close their season with a 15-6 overall record with half of those losses coming against Slippery Rock.
 
SRU advances to the Atlantic Region title game and will play at No. 2 West Chester next Saturday at 3 p.m. in the quarterfinals. That game will be a rematch of the PSAC title game from May 4, where West Chester pulled away late for a 17-11 win. The Golden Rams advanced by No. 5 seed Limestone Friday with a 17-11 victory.
 
East Stroudsburg opened the scoring just over three minutes into the game Saturday, but Slippery Rock responded a minute later to tie the game at 1-1 early in the first. That score would stand the rest of the period as the teams traded defensive stands on the way to a 1-1 opening quarter.
 
Slippery Rock tallied two goals late in the second quarter before ESU got one back to send it to the break with The Rock leading 3-2 in a low-scoring game.
 
ESU evened the game at 3-3 with 11:03 to play in the third before Slippery Rock went on a decisive run, closing the third quarter on a 4-0 run and opening the fourth with another goal to push the advantage out to 8-3 with 13:37 to play.
 
The Warriors outscored Slippery Rock 2-1 the rest of the way, but never got closer than three goals as The Rock held on for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.
 
SRU finished the game with advantages of 30-20 in total shots and 11-8 in draw controls. ESU posted an 18-17 edge in ground balls.
 
Abby Fink led the attack with a hat trick, while Leora Owings added one goal, two assists and a game-high six draw controls. Isabella Buono and Grace Rotter both scored two goals, while Eryn Little netted one goal and Erin Melcher handed out one assist to round out the point scorers.
 
Paige Jenkins tallied three caused turnovers and three ground balls to pace the defense, with Nicole Masi adding two caused turnovers. Lily Ventresca earned the win in goal with four saves, tying the SRU program record for single-season wins by a goalie with her 15^th victory.
 
East Stroudsburg was led by Sadie Kauffman and Hannah Schiemer with two goals each. Abby Simonetti kept her team in the game with 11 saves in goal.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift its focus to a rematch of the PSAC title game next Saturday, May 17 at 3 p.m. at No. 2 West Chester with a spot in the national semifinals on the line.
 



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