SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 12th-ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team will face No. 2 West Chester University in the championship game of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament Sunday at noon at Vonnie Gros Field on the campus of West Chester.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
•  Live Stats: LINK
•  Live Video: LINK

WATCH ON YOUR TV - "ROCK ATHLETICS DIGITAL NETWORK" APPS
• Fans can watch the game live and on-demand for free on the Rock Athletics Digital Network, created and operated by the SRU Athletic Communication Office.
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* This game will be produced by West Chester and its streaming partner SFBN and simulcast on the Rock Athletics Digital Network.
 
GAME 18 DETAILS
• Opponent: West Chester University
• Date: Sunday, May 4, 2025  |  Noon
• Location: Vonnie Gros Field  |  West Chester, Pa.
• Purchase Tickets Here
• All-Time Series: West Chester leads 16-0
• Current Streak: West Chester +16
• Last Meeting: May 10, 2024 at Seton Hill – WCU won 14-6
 
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Slippery Rock has never won the PSAC title in lacrosse and will be playing in the championship game for the first time ever. West Chester is far-and-away the most successful lacrosse program in the PSAC. The Golden Rams have won 24 PSAC titles, including each of the last two and five of the last six dating back to 2018. No other school in the PSAC has more than eight (Lock Haven).
 
PSAC EAST DOMINANCE
A member of the current PSAC East has won the last seven conference titles with the last champion from a Western Division school coming in 2016 when Mercyhurst took down West Chester to win the crown. Since Mercyhurst has since left the PSAC, the only Western Division team remaining in the league that has ever won the PSAC lacrosse title is Lock Haven, which has won eight times with the most recent title coming in 2015.
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT RECAP
West Chester and Slippery Rock are the two No. 1 seeds after both teams rolled through their divisions with perfect records. The Golden Rams went 12-0 in the PSAC East and Slippery Rock was 10-0 in the PSAC West. WCU took down West Division No. 2 seed Seton Hill 14-11 in the semifinals Friday, while SRU took down East Division No. 2 seed East Stroudsburg 12-11 in overtime in the semifinals Friday.
 

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock held steady at the highest ranking for the program since it was reinstated as a varsity sport in 2007 and entered this week at No. 7 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and No. 12 in the IWLCA national poll. West Chester currently ranks No. 1 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and No. 2 in the IWLCA coaches poll.
 
REGIONAL RANKINGS
This game features the top two teams in the Atlantic Region with West Chester entering this week ranked No. 1 and Slippery Rock ranked No. 2. It is highly unlikely either of these teams can fall out of the top two spots in the region, regardless of the outcome Sunday, as both teams are undefeated against the other teams ranked in the poll. There is a good chance Sunday's game will determine the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Region for the NCAA Tournament.
 
THIS WEEK'S REGIONAL RANKINGS
1. West Chester
2. Slippery Rock
3. East Stroudsburg
4. Seton Hill
5. Kutztown
6. Wingate
7. Millersville
8. Limestone
 
SRU AGAINST THE REGION
Slippery Rock is 5-0 against teams in the top eight in the regional rankings and 6-0 against teams that rank in the top eight in the region in terms of the NCAA's RPI metric. The Rock have road wins at East Stroudsburg, Seton Hill, Limestone and Newberry (No. 8 in RPI), a home win over Seton Hill and a neutral site win over East Stroudsburg.
 
RECORDS
Slippery Rock is 16-1 and went 10-0 in the PSAC West to claim the first division title in program history. The Rock are riding a program-record 11-game win streak and are coming off a 12-11 overtime win over East Stroudsburg Friday in the semifinals. West Chester is 17-0 and is the only undefeated team in the country. The Golden Rams were challenged in the semifinals Friday before coming away with a 14-11 win over Seton Hill, which was the only game in the last month in which an opponent stayed within five goals of the Rams.
 
ROCK WINS FIRST PSAC WEST TITLE
Slippery Rock won the PSAC West title this spring to mark the first division title in program history.
 
SRU IN THE PLAYOFFS
The postseason appearance this spring for SRU marks just the fourth PSAC playoff berth in program history. The Rock earned their first modern-era postseason win with a victory in the opening round of the PSAC Playoffs last season before falling to West Chester in the semifinals. After picking up the first semifinal win in program history Friday, SRU is in the PSAC title game for the first time ever.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES  |  Game-by-Game Scores
West Chester is a perfect 16-0 all-time against Slippery Rock dating back to 1983. The Golden Rams have been ranked in the top 10 seven times out of the previous 16 meetings, including last spring when West Chester was No. 2 in the national poll and handed The Rock a 14-6 defeat in the PSAC semifinals. WCU has won by six or more goals in 13 of the 16 meetings with the closest game being a double overtime 13-12 win at home against SRU in 2015.
 
LAST MEETING – MAY 10, 2024  |  Box Score
Slippery Rock led 5-4 with just over five minutes to play in the first half of last year's PSAC semifinals before No. 2 West Chester went on an 11-0 run to blow the game open on the way to a 14-6 win that ended The Rock's season. The Rams finished with a 35-18 advantage in total shots, while SRU put up a 14-10 edge in draw controls. Hannah Stanislawczyk and Kendall Fortune each had hat tricks for West Chester and Jessica Gorr made nine saves in goal. SRU got two goals from Eryn Little and one goal and one assist from Camryn Whipple. Gillian O'Rourke made 10 saves in goal.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Overall Record: 16-1
• PSAC Record: 10-0
• Home Record: 6-0
• Away Record: 9-1
• Neutral Site Record: 1-0
• Streak: W11
• Last Five Games: 5-0
• Head Coach: Taryn Burkholder (4th season, Niagara '12)  |  Record: 51-19
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock rallied from an early 6-2 deficit to come back and defeat No. 14 East Stroudsburg 12-11 in overtime in the PSAC semifinals Friday. Krysta Frankowski scored the game-winner off an assist from Grace Rotter less than 30 seconds into the extra session to lift SRU to the win. Reagan Richeson netted four goals to reach the 100-point milestone for her career in just her sophomore season. Ava Drath came in at goalie when SRU trailed 6-2 and earned the win, making six saves while allowing five goals.
 
GOING FOR 12TH STRAIGHT WIN
Slippery Rock's current 11-game winning streak is the longest winning streak in SRU lacrosse program history.
 
FOURTH STRAIGHT 10-WIN SEASON
Slippery Rock has already locked up a 10-win season to mark the fourth straight 10-win season and just the ninth 10-win season in program history. Head coach Taryn Burkholder has led the program to at least 10 wins in every year of her career and becomes the first coach in program history with four 10-win seasons. Burkholder has won 51 games in four seasons at SRU, making her the fastest coach in program history to 50 wins.
 
SINGLE-SEASON WINS RECORD
Slippery Rock's 16 wins are the most in a single season in program history, passing the 15 wins recorded by the 2024 team that went 15-4 last spring. The 31 wins over the last two seasons is the best two-year stretch in program history.
 
SRU QUICK NOTES
• Head Coach Taryn Burkholder was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year for the second straight year.
• Defender Paige Jenkins was named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year and picked up first team All-PSAC honors for the second straight year.
• SRU led the PSAC West with eight All-PSAC honorees, including six first team selections (attackers Reagan Richeson and Grace Rotter, middies Leora Owings and Isabella Buono and defenders Paige Jenkins and Nicole Masi) and two second team honorees (defender Amelia Nitsche and attacker Abby Fink).
• SRU entered the weekend ranked fourth in Division II in scoring defense, allowing just above seven goals per game. The Rock also ranked in the top 10 in caused turnovers, ground balls and draw controls.
• Attacking trio of Richeson, Rotter and Fink are just the second trio of SRU teammates to top 40 goals in the same season in program history and the first to do it since 2015.
• Defender Amelia Nitsche set the SRU record for games started Friday and has now started all 69 games in her SRU career.
• Leora Owings topped the 100 draw control milestone for the season Friday and now has 103 draw controls to go along with 29 caused turnovers and 34 ground balls.
• Defenders Nicole Masi (30 caused turnovers, 37 ground balls), Paige Jenkins (34 caused turnovers, 31 ground balls and Amelia Nitsche (21 caused turnovers, 38 ground balls) all rank in the top 20 all-time at SRU in caused turnovers.
 
WCU QUICK NOTES
• West Chester is the only undefeated team left in Division II at 17-0.
• The Rams have the No. 2 scoring offense in the country, averaging just under 20 goals per game.
• WCU boasts the most lethal scorer in the PSAC and one of the best players in the country in PSAC East Athlete of the Year Keri Barnett, who is likely to leave West Chester as the best goal scorer in PSAC history. She has an astounding 101 goals and 26 assists for 127 points this year. She scores a goal on 54 percent of all shots taken and has 101 goals on just 187 total shots. She also has 74 draw controls and 49 caused turnovers.
• Sydney Wasdick is also one of the top scorers in the league with 60 goals to go along with a team-high 102 draw controls. West Chester has four players with at least 50 points on the year and is outscoring opponents 321-146 overall.
• West Chester's two goalies have combined for a 9.06 goals against average and a .386 save percentage.  
 
NCAA SELECTION SHOW
Slippery Rock and West Chester are both locks to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament that begins next week. The six teams from the Atlantic Region that will earn a bid will be announced Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. on a live selection show that will air at NCAA.com.
 
 


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