Slippery Rock University Athletics

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The No. 7 Slippery Rock University field hockey team lost a road Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference game to No. 4 Shippensburg University, 3-2, Wednesday at the Robb Sports Complex.
 
The loss served as the first setback of the season for Slippery Rock, which saw its record move to 8-1 overall and 1-1 inside the PSAC. The host Raiders improved to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in league games.
 
Hilary Hoffman and Riley Cloude accounted for The Rock's goals against Shippensburg. Hoffman has now scored five goals in 2026, while Cloude's goal was her first of the season. Keila Schutte-Hanekom set up Cloude's tally for what was her second career assist.
 
Hoffman (3), Grace Williams (2) and Roz Mikulak (2) each had multiple shots to round out SRU's offensive leaders.
 
Goalkeeper Sam Black, the reigning National Field Hockey Coaches Association Defensive Player of the Week, made a season-high 12 saves in 59:10 of playing time.
 
The cliché "a tale of two halves" applied to Wednesday's game as Shippensburg controlled the opening 30 minutes by scoring all three of its goals in the second quarter and entering the break having outshot SRU 11-1.
 
Undeterred from the sizable deficit, Slippery Rock turned the momentum in the second half with a quick goal just 33 seconds into the third quarter when Hoffman made a long run from midfield and snuck a shot inside the cage past Raider goalie Live Schweighart.
 
The Rock continued their comeback bid just seven minutes later when Schutte-Hanekom inserted a penalty corner to Cloude, who fired a shot into the middle of the circle that was deflected into the cage by a Shippensburg defender, making it a 3-2 game with 23 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Slippery Rock continued its push over the remainder of the game. Defensively, Black stopped the final seven shots she faced and offensively SRU registered four shots after Cloude's goal and were awarded four penalty corners.
 
However, Shippensburg's defense kept all four shots from getting to Schweighart and cleared all the corners to fend off Slippery Rock's comeback bid and take the one-goal win.
 
The Raiders ended the game holding advantages over The Rock in total shots (20-8) and shots on goal (15-2). Slippery Rock edged the Raiders in penalty corners (8-4).
 
Annika Madeja, McKenna Boyle and Hannah White scored Shippensburg's goals.
 
With its five-game road trip now complete, Slippery Rock returns home to host No. 1 Kutztown University 11 a.m. Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.





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