Highlights  |  Photo Gallery (Photos by Jordan Martino)

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The 12th-ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team battled back from an early 6-2 deficit and earned a dramatic 12-11 overtime win over No. 14 East Stroudsburg University in the semifinal round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament Friday from West Chester University.
 
The Rock improve to 16-1 with their 11th straight victory and set a new program record for single-season wins while advancing to the PSAC Championship game for the first time in program history. SRU will meet undefeated No. 2 West Chester (17-0) Sunday at noon for the conference title. East Stroudsburg saw a seven-game winning streak snapped and drops to 14-5 overall after falling to The Rock for the second time this season.
 
It took two separate 4-0 runs and a dramatic overtime goal to earn the victory Friday after East Stroudsburg came out firing on all cylinders. The Warriors scored on their first six shots on goal and opened up a 6-2 lead with 12:32 to play in the second quarter.
 
SRU made a change at the goalie position and inserted Ava Drath after the sixth ESU goal. Drath made three saves and did not allow a goal for the rest of the period, settling The Rock down and opening a chance at the comeback.
 
Slippery Rock chipped away at the deficit by closing the period on a 3-0 run with goals from Ava Dossier, Abby Fink and Reagan Richeson to send it to halftime with ESU leading 6-5.
 
The Rock completed the rally with a fourth straight goal to tie the game at 6-6 with 7:03 to play in the third, but the Warriors quickly responded with back-to-back goals in a stretch of just 35 seconds to edge ahead 8-6 with 5:35 to play in the third.
 
Slippery Rock answered back with another 4-0 run that took just under four minutes with Richeson netting three of those goals. Grace Rotter's goal with 2:29 to play in the third gave SRU its first lead of the day at 9-8 and Richeson made it 10-8 with 1:30 left in the period. ESU clawed one back with 59 seconds left to send it to the fourth with The Rock leading 10-9.
 
Both teams played stifling defense in the final period with just three total goals being scored in the final 15 minutes of regulation. ESU netted the tying goal with 14:08 to play before Rotter put Slippery Rock back in front 11-10 with 7:11 to play.
 
The Warriors found the equalizer less than a minute later with a goal from Campbell Heller tying the game at 11-11 with 6:25 to play. Both teams had multiple possessions in the final six minutes, but neither could find the winning goal.
 
Slippery Rock had the ball in the attacking zone at the end of regulation and drew a green card on ESU as time expired, which gave the ball to The Rock with a woman-up situation to open the overtime period.
 
It took just 28 seconds of the extra session for SRU to find the game-winner when Rotter passed it in front to Krysta Frankowski, who snuck a shot just inside the right post for the winning goal.
 
Richeson led the attack for SRU with four goals and in the process reached the 100-career point milestone in just her second season. Rotter added a hat trick and one assist and Fink netted a pair of goals. Frankowski finished with one goal and one assist to cap the players with multiple points.
 
Dossier and Isabella Buono rounded out the scoring with one goal each. Leora Owings led the team in draw controls with four while Eryn Little picked up three ground balls.
 
Drath earned the win in goal after making six saves and allowing five goals in the final 43:00 of action. Lily Ventresca played the first 17:28 and allowed six goals while making no saves.
 
East Stroudsburg was led by PSAC East Freshman of the Year Sadie Kauffman, who scored seven of her team's 11 goals. Ariana Tucci added one goal and one assist. ESU goalie Abby Simonetti, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in saves and save percentage, took the loss after recording six saves and allowing 12 goals.
 
Slippery Rock will now prepare to face No. 2 West Chester Sunday at noon in the PSAC title game. The Rock and the Golden Rams have been on a collision course for each other for most of the season after both going undefeated in conference play to lock up the No. 1 seeds in the tournament. Sunday's PSAC final is also likely to decide the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament as West Chester and SRU are currently No. 1 and No. 2 in the regional rankings.
 



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