SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 12th-ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team will compete in the first NCAA Division II Tournament game in program history when it travels to No. 14 East Stroudsburg University 3 p.m. Saturday.
 
As recipients of the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Region, The Rock received a first-round bye and jump straight into the second round of the tournament Saturday. SRU begins NCAA Tournament action with a 16-2 overall record. ESU defeated Frostburg State University in the first round of the tournament Thursday to improve to 15-5 on the year. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
•  Live Stats: LINK
•  Live Video: LINK
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV - "ROCK ATHLETICS DIGITAL NETWORK" APPS
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* This game will be produced by ESU and simulcast on the Rock Athletics Digital Network
 
GAME 19 DETAILS
• Opponent: No. 14 East Stroudsburg University
• Date: Saturday, May 10  |  3 p.m.
• Location: Whitenight Field  |  East Stroudsburg, Pa.
• All-Time Series: Tied 10-10
• Current Streak: Slippery Rock +2
• Last Meeting: May 2, 2025 at West Chester – SRU won 12-11 (OT)
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock enters its historic postseason matchup ranked seventh the latest USA Lacrosse Magazine national poll and No. 12 in the latest IWLCA coaches national poll. The Warriors welcome The Rock slotted 16th in the USA Lacrosse Magazine national poll while being ranked 14th in the IWLCA coaches national poll
 
REGIONAL FIELD
Slippery Rock is one of six teams that were selected to represent the Atlantic Region in the 24-team NCAA Tournament. The Atlantic Region title game will serve as a national quarterfinal contest 3 p.m. May 17. The four regional champions will be reseeded and compete in the semifinals and championship rounds May 22-24 in Salem, Virginia.
 
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament champions West Chester University received the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Region. The Golden Rams will host Limestone University, the region's fifth seed, Saturday following the Saints' 14-7 upset of Wingate University in opening-round competition.
 
Atlantic Region Field
1. West Chester
2. Slippery Rock
3. East Stroudsburg
4. Wingate
5. Limestone
6. Frostburg State
 
RECORDS
Slippery Rock is now 16-2 overall after falling in the PSAC Championship game, 17-11, to West Chester May 4. Prior to that game, SRU had not lost a game since falling to Lander University, 10-9, in overtime March 15. The Rock went 10-0 in PSAC West play throughout the regular season.
 
ESU is 15-5 on the season with two of its total losses coming to Slippery Rock. The Warriors finished second in the PSAC East after completing conference play at 10-2.
 
THE ROCK IN THE PLAYOFFS
Slippery Rock finished its fourth PSAC Tournament appearance in its first PSAC Tournament title game. The Rock defeated ESU, 12-11, in overtime in the semifinals to advance to the championship round, where West Chester prevailed in a 17-11 decision.
 
Saturday's second round game will mark Slippery Rock's first program appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES  |  Game-by-Game Scores
Thanks to a 12-6 regular-season win March 5 and SRU's thrilling 12-11 overtime win May 2, The Rock and the Warriors are now tied 10-10 all-time. Saturday will see the teams square off for the 12^th time since 2011, with Slippery Rock having won seven of the last 11 contests. SRU will need its second road win at ESU wince 2012 in order to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals, as the Warriors are 5-2 when hosting The Rock.
 
LAST MEETING – May 2, 2025  |  Box Score
Slippery Rock battled back from an early 6-2 deficit to earn its 12-11 overtime win over East Stroudsburg in the PSAC semifinals May 2.
 
The Rock shaved the Warriors' 6-2 lead down to 6-5 by halftime and tied things up at 6-6 with 7:03 to play in the third. ESU answered with back-to-back goals to take an 8-6 lead, but The Rock strung together a 4-0 run with three goals in less than four minutes being scored by Reagan Richeson. SRU saw an 11-10 lead erased with a tying goal being scored by ESU with 6:25 left in the fourth, and neither team secure a winning goal in regulation.
 
Krysta Frankowski found the back of the net on a pass from Grace Rotter just 28 seconds into overtime for the win. Goalkeeper Ava Drath earned the win after subbing into the game in the second quarter. She made six saves and allowed five goals in the final 43 minutes. PSAC East Freshman of the Year Sadie Kauffman led the Warriors with seven goals, while goaltender Abby Simonetti suffered the loss with six saves.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Overall Record: 16-2
• PSAC Record: 10-0
• Home Record: 6-0
• Away Record: 9-2
• Streak: L1
• Last Five Games: 4-1
• Head Coach: Taryn Burkholder (4th season, Niagara '12)  |  Record: 51-20
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Rock held strong in a rain-soaked PSAC Championship game against West Chester but lost to the Golden Rams 17-11, seeing its 11-game winning streak come to an end. WCU went into halftime with an 8-6 lead after a 4-0 run. A fourth-quarter goal from Eryn Little cut the deficit to 13-9, but WCU protected its lead for the duration of the game.
 
SRU dominated the draw circle for most of the day and finished with a 19-12 advantage. Isabella Buono led The Rock with five goals on seven shots, while Paige Jenkins finished the game with a team-high six caused turnovers.
 
FOURTH STRAIGHT 10-WIN SEASON
Slippery Rock has already locked up a 10-win season to mark its fourth straight 10-win year, 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.
 
SINGLE-SEASON WINS RECORD
Slippery Rock's PSAC semifinal win over East Stroudsburg marked the team's 16^th victory of its 2025 campaign, setting a new program single-season record. SRU broke its previous win mark set last season when The Rock went 15-4. The 31 wins over the last two seasons are the best two-year stretch in school history.
 
ROCK WINNING WITH DEFENSE
The Rock have allowed double-digit goals just seven times this year and enter Saturday ranked No. 10 among all teams in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 8.17 goals per game. SRU is 13^th in Division II in scoring margin at +6.5 goals per game, ranks fifth nationally in caused turnovers with 13.5 per game and ranks 20th nationally with 21.33 ground balls per game.
 
VETERAN DEFENSIVE CORE LEADING THE WAY
Slippery Rock boasts a veteran defensive core that is among the best in the region, led by preseason All-American Paige Jenkins. Jenkins has tallied 38 caused turnovers in the last 16 games and also ranks third on the team with 59 draw controls and fifth on the team with 33 ground balls. 
 
Nicole Masi has 31 caused turnovers and 37 ground balls, while Amelia Nitsche has 21 caused turnovers and leads the team with 38 ground balls. Hailey Ohlsen has six caused turnovers and 13 ground balls and McKenzie Murphy has nine caused turnovers and 14 ground balls. Masi (78), Nitsche (68), Ohlsen (66), Jenkins (60) and midfielder Leora Owings (55) all rank in the top 20 all-time at SRU in career caused turnovers.
 
WE SHOOT A LOT
Slippery Rock enters this weekend ranked No. 3 in Division II in shots with an average of 35.39 per game. The Rock are sixth in the nation in shots on goal per game at 25.28, but rank 79th in shooting percentage with goals coming on 41.4 percent of total shots. SRU is 21^st in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 14.67 goals per game. That tally is the best in the PSAC West and ranks second in the PSAC behind only West Chester at 18.78 goals per game.
 
NINE TEAMS WITH TWO OR FEWER LOSSES
Entering this weekend, Slippery Rock is one of just nine teams in the country to have two or fewer losses. Only one unbeaten team remains in Division II with 18-0 West Chester yet to lose a game. The Rock have the second-best record in the PSAC at 16-2 and are the only other team in the PSAC with two or fewer losses. SRU's .889 winning percentage ranks seventh in the country.
 
THREE PLAYERS WITH 40 GOALS, 50 POINTS
For just the second time in program history, Slippery Rock has three players that have reached 40 goals and 50 points in the same season. Grace Rotter (43g, 23a, 66 pts), Reagan Richeson (48g, 11a, 59 pts) and Abby Fink (43g, 12a, 55 pts) were all named to the All-PSAC team as attackers this spring. They join the 2015 trio of Erin Wilcox (50), Paige Costantino (49) and Kaytlin Callaghan (46) as the only other set of three teammates to reach 40 goals in the same season at The Rock.
 
FIVE PLAYERS WITH 30+ POINTS
Slippery Rock enters the weekend with five players with at least 38 total points on the year. Grace Rotter leads the way with 43 goals and 23 assists for 66 points, which ranks seventh in SRU single-season scoring. Reagan Richeson has a team-high 48 goals to go along with 11 assists for 59 points, while Abby Fink has 43 goals and 12 assists for 55 points to give SRU three players with at least 50 points. Leora Owings has 21 goals and 19 assists for 40 points and Isabella Buono has 25 goals and 13 assists for 38 points.
 
FIVE MORE IN DOUBLE FIGURES
The Rock also has five more players with at least 10 points to give the team 10 players in double figures on the year. Krysta Frankowski (13g, 10a), Ava Dossier (11g, 10a), Eryn Little (22g, 1a), Maddie Blazey (6g, 6a) and Erin Melcher (5g, 5a) round out the players with at least 10 points.
 
21 DIFFERENT POINT SCORERS
21 total players have tallied at least one point on the year, including nine that average at least one point per game. Other scorers this year include Sydney Ulmer (5g, 3a), Ella Koslowski (4g, 3a), Laurelle Surette (5g, 1a), Cadyn Eismann (5g), Claire Petty (1g, 1a), Lauren Petty (2g), Shannon Von Kaenel (1g, 1a), Paige Jenkins (1g, 1a), Brooke Walters (1g), Hailey Ohlsen (1g), and Victoria Ziemba (1a).
 
OWINGS STUFFING THE STAT SHEET
Midfielder Leora Owings ranks fourth on the team in scoring and leads The Rock in draw controls with 119, which ranks fourth all-time in single-season history at SRU. She is also third on the team and leads all midfielders with 30 caused turnovers and is third on the team with 37 ground balls. Owings also owns the highest shooting percentage on the team among players with at least 30 shots, putting 78.3. percent of her shots on target.
 
ROTTER SHINES IN FIRST SEASON AT SRU
With the closure of Notre Dame College after the 2024 spring semester, Slippery Rock was able to add junior transfer Grace Rotter in the offseason. Rotter has improved steadily throughout her first season at The Rock and has become one of the better scorers in the league, leading SRU with 66 points on 43 goals and 23 assists. She has also twice been named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week and has 25 caused turnovers to lead all attackers. Rotter's 66 points are tied for seventh in SRU single-season history and her 23 assists are tied for fifth.
 
GOALIE NUMBERS
Goalie Lily Ventresca ranks first in the PSAC and fourth in the nation in goals against average, allowing 8.26 goals per 60 minutes of action. She is a perfect 14-0 on the season and needs one more win to tie the SRU single-season wins record of 15. 
 
Ava Drath is allowing 7.84 goals against average, but has not played enough minutes to qualify for the NCAA stats leaderboard. The goalies have combined for an 8.14 goals against average and a .405 save percentage.
 
DRAW SPECIALIST
Midfielder Shannon Von Kaenel has stepped into the draw specialist role this year and has helped SRU to post a 278-191 overall advantage in draw controls on the year. She personally has 72 draw controls to rank second on the team and eighth in SRU single-season history. The Rock lead the PSAC and rank 13th in Division II in draw control percentage, winning 59.2 percent of all draws taken.
 
SRU STATS BREAKDOWN
Slippery Rock is outscoring opponents 264-147 and outshooting the opposition 637-330 through 18 games. The Rock have posted advantages of 278-191 in draw controls, 385-313 in ground balls and 244-185 in caused turnovers. SRU is clearing the defensive zone at an 84.2 percent efficiency (229-of-272) while holding opponents to 65.5 percent on the clear (213-of-325).
 
CAREER GAMES STARTED
Amelia Nitsche enters this weekend with 70 career starts under her belt, which is the most starts in program history. She passed Emma VanDenburg's 68 (2009-12) by starting against ESU and West Chester in the PSAC Tournament and is the only Rock women's lacrosse player in history to start 70 games in their career. She also leads the program record books with 3,995 career minutes played. Hailey Ohlsen is fifth at 3,356, with Nicole Masi checking in at seventh with 3,248 minutes on the field.
 
SRU PLAYERS IN TOP 20 IN CAREER RECORD BOOK
• Amelia Nitsche – 70 games started (No. 1 at SRU)
• Leora Owings – 149 draw controls (No. 6 at SRU – needs 2 to move up to No. 5)
• Hailey Ohlsen – 67 games played (No. 7 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 3)
• Nicole Masi – 78 caused turnovers (No. 8 at SRU – needs 4 to move up to No. 7)
• Krysta Frankowski – 41 assists (No. 10 at SRU – needs 2 to move up to No. 9)
• Paige Jenkins – 125 draw controls (No. 10 at SRU – needs 7 to move up to No. 9)
• Reagan Richeson – 195 shots (No. 10 at SRU – needs 12 to move up to No. 9)
• Reagan Richeson – 150 shots on goal (No. 10 at SRU – needs 2 to move up to No. 9)
• Lily Ventresca – 87 saves (No. 10 at SRU – needs 7 to move up to No. 9)
• Amelia Nitsche – 68 caused turnovers (No. 12 at SRU – needs 7 to move up to No. 11)
• Hailey Ohlsen – 66 caused turnovers (No. 13 at SRU – needs 2 to move up to No. 12)
• Reagan Richeson – 87 goals (No. 13 at SRU – needs 4 to move up to No. 12)
• Nicole Masi – 107 ground balls (No. 16 at SRU – needs 10 to move up to No. 14)
• Shannon Von Kaenel – 75 draw controls (No. 16 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 15)
• Paige Jenkins – 60 caused turnovers (No. 17 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 15)
• Leora Owings – 26 assists (No. 18 at SRU – needs 2 to move up to No. 17)
• Nicole Masi – 63 games played (No. 19 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 16)
• Leora Owings – 55 caused turnovers (No. 20 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 19)
 
MILESTONE WATCH
• Paige Jenkins: at 125 DC
• Nicole Masi: 22 CT away from 100
• Nicole Masi: 18 GB away from 125
• Amelia Nitsche: 7 CT away from 75
• Amelia Nitsche: 4 GB away from 100
• Hailey Ohlsen: 2 GB away from 100
• Hailey Ohlsen: 9 CT away from 75
• Leora Owings: 20 CT away from 75
• Leora Owings: 1 DC away from 150
• Leora Owings: 15 PTS away from 75
• Reagan Richeson: 23 PTS away from 125
• Reagan Richeson: 13 GB away from 50
 
EAST STROUDSBURG PRIMER
• Overall Record: 15-5
• PSAC Record: 10-2
• Home Record: 8-2
• Away Record: 6-2
• Neutral Site Record: 1-1
• Streak: W1
• Last Five Games: 4-1
• Head Coach: Xeni Barakos-Yoder (10th season, ESU '11)  |  Record: 130-41
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
East Stroudsburg finds itself in the NCAA Tournament for an eighth consecutive season. The team's five losses on the year include two apiece to West Chester and Slippery Rock as well as an 11-10 loss to No. 10 Adelphi. Slippery Rock's semifinal win over the Warriors snapped a seven-game win streak for ESU.
 
ESU is outscoring opponents 292-189 and outshooting the opposition 612-547. The Warriors have also put up advantages of 276-267 in draw controls and 315-212 in ground balls while being nearly level with opponents this year in draws and ground balls.
 
The biggest advantage ESU has had over opponents this year has been a difference in goalkeeping, where Warrior goalie Abby Simonetti has a .561 save percentage to lead all goalies in the nation and opponents have combined for a .361 save percentage against ESU. Simonetti, the PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year, also ranks No. 1 in the country in total saves (235) and carries a 9.45 goals against average despite ESU allowing 547 total shots (27.35 per game).
 
PSAC East Freshman of the Year Sadie Kauffman leads the team in scoring by a wide margin with an astounding 101 goals and 26 assists for 127 points. She also leads the team with 95 draw controls and has 22 caused turnovers. Ariana Tucci is second in scoring with 51 goals and 19 assists for 70 points and Lauren Hallman (38g, 14a) gives the Warriors three players with at least 50 points. Molly Atwell paces the defense with 39 caused turnovers and 24 ground balls.
 
UP NEXT
A win over East Stroudsburg would move Slippery Rock to the NCAA Quarterfinals 3 p.m. May 17 to compete for a regional title. The game will be hosted by the highest-seeded remaining team. The Rock will either travel to West Chester or host Limestone.
 




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