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WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The 12th ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team saw its 11-game winning streak snapped with a 17-11 loss on the road at No. 2 West Chester University in a rain-soaked Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship game Sunday from Vonnie Gros Field.
 
The Golden Rams remain the only undefeated team in Division II and improve to 18-0 with their third straight PSAC title. West Chester has also locked up the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Region in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Slippery Rock, which made its modern-era PSAC title game debut Sunday, drops to 16-2 overall and will now await the NCAA Selection Show Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. The Rock are a lock to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history and are likely to earn the No. 2 seed in the region and a first round bye.
 
West Chester scored the first three goals of the game with two coming on woman-up situations to jump out to a 3-0 lead before Slippery Rock rallied back and closed the first quarter on a 4-1 run to tie the game at 4-4 heading to the second quarter.
 
Isabella Buono scored a go-ahead goal with one second left in the first to make it 5-4, but her stick did not pass the stick check so the goal was taken off the board. She switched sticks and made the next one count, putting SRU up 5-4 just 55 seconds into the second quarter. Reagan Richeson capped a 4-0 rally to give The Rock a 6-4 lead with 12:50 to play in the half.
 
West Chester responded with a 4-0 run of its own to take an 8-6 lead into the break.
 
The Rock got one back early in the third to get it to 8-7 before the Rams put together a 5-1 run to close the third quarter with a 13-8 lead.
 
Slippery Rock opened the scoring in the fourth with a goal from Eryn Little to cut it to 13-9, but would get no closer as West Chester scored the next three goals to put the game out of reach.
 
The Rock struggled with fouls in the defensive end and cards in key situations, giving up 10 free position attempts with West Chester scoring seven free position goals and five woman-up goals with the player advantage. Conversely, SRU tallied five free position goals and just one woman-up tally.
 
Slippery Rock dominated the draw circle for most of the day and finished with a 19-12 advantage after West Chester won five draws late in the fourth. The Rams outshot SRU 10-5 in the final period to finish with a 33-27 edge in total shots after SRU led in shots through three quarters. West Chester put up a 21-12 advantage in credited ground balls and a 14-13 edge in caused turnovers.
 
Leora Owings grabbed a career-high 16 draw controls with Shannon Von Kaenel dominating in the draw circle. Owings also finished with two caused turnovers and three ground balls.
 
Buono paced the attack with five goals on seven shots. Little added a hat trick and Richeson netted a pair of goals. Abby Fink finished with one goal and two assists to round out the scorers. The Rock's leading scorer, Grace Rotter, was held without a point for just the second time this year and the first time since a 10-9 overtime loss at Lander March 15.
 
Paige Jenkins was stellar defensively and finished with a game-high six caused turnovers to go along with one draw control and two ground balls. Ava Drath took the loss in goal after allowing 10 goals in the first 36:28 while making two saves. Lily Ventresca played the final 23:32 and allowed seven goals while making three saves.
 
West Chester was led by PSAC East Player of the Year Keri Barnett with four goals, two assists and four caused turnovers. Madeline Edinger was named the MVP after scoring five goals and Sydney Wasdick tallied four goals. Hannah Cornelius earned the win in goal after recording a season-high eight saves.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift focus to the NCAA Selection Show Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. to find out its postseason outlook. The show will air live on the NCAA website HERE. The Rock are most likely going to be a No. 2 seed, but will be on the road for the opening weekend as SRU's facility is not available due to hosting the PSAC Track & Field Championships next Thursday through Saturday. Full NCAA Tournament information will be posted Sunday evening after the selections are announced.





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