SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 11th-ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team will travel to No. 5 West Chester for a 1 p.m. game Saturday in a rematch of the 2025 PSAC and Atlantic Region title games.
LIVE COVERAGE
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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 SFBN, West Chester's broadcast partner.
GAME 2 DETAILS
• Opponent: West Chester University
• Date: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 | 1 p.m.
• Location: Vonnie Gros Field | West Chester, Pa.
• All-Time Series: West Chester leads 17-1
• Current Streak: Slippery Rock +1
• Last Meeting: May 17, 2025 | SRU won 16-13 at WCU
NATIONAL RANKINGS | IWLCA | USA Lacrosse Magazine
Slippery Rock entered this week ranked No. 11 in the IWLCA coaches poll and No. 8 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll. West Chester sits at No. 5 in the IWLCA poll and No. 3 in the USA Lacrosse poll.
RECORDS
Slippery Rock is 1-0 after earning an 18-9 win over Ashland at home Wednesday evening in the season opener. West Chester will be playing its first game of the season.
ALL-TIME SERIES | Game-by-Game Scores
West Chester owns a 17-1 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1983. The Golden Rams won the first 17 straight meetings in the series until Slippery Rock snapped that streak in the most recent meeting, upsetting undefeated No. 1 seed West Chester in the NCAA quarterfinals 16-13 last May to win the regional title. This will mark the fifth straight meeting between the teams when West Chester is ranked in the top five nationally and the 13th straight meeting where the Golden Rams are nationally ranked.
LAST MEETING WITH WEST CHESTER
Slippery Rock avenged a 17-11 loss at West Chester in the PSAC title game May 4 by shocking the Golden Rams and winning the Atlantic Region title with a 16-13 win at West Chester May 17 in the NCAA quarterfinals. The win marked the first-ever SRU win over West Chester and the first regional title in SRU program history. It also marked the third straight season West Chester lost only one game. Slippery Rock led after all four quarters in the regional title game and used a key 4-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to pull away for a 16-13 win. West Chester led only once in the game, at 2-1 early in the first. WCU put up advantages of 31-25 in total shots and 22-14 in ground balls while SRU posted a 19-14 edge in draw controls.
Grace Rotter led Slippery Rock with six points on three goals and three assists while
Isabella Buono added two goals and three assists.
Lily Ventresca made seven saves in goal. WCU was paced by Kendall Fortune with four goals and one assist and Keri Barnett with four goals. Hannah Cornelius played 32:08 in goal and took the loss after allowing 10 goals with one save. Morgan Koons played the final 27:52 in goal, allowing six goals and recording three saves.
PRESEASON FAVORITES
Slippery Rock and West Chester were runaway favorites in the PSAC Preseason Coaches Poll entering this year. The Rock were picked to win the Western Division with all of the other teams in the division voting SRU first, while West Chester was picked to win the East with all of the other coaches picking the Rams as well.
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Overall Record: 1-0 (18-3 in 2025)
• PSAC Record: 0-0 (10-0 in 2025)
• Home Record: 1-0 (6-0 in 2025)
• Away Record: 0-0 (11-2 in 2025)
• Streak: W1 (NCAA semifinals in 2025)
• Last Five Games: 3-2 (dating back to 2025)
• Head Coach: Taryn Burkholder (5th season, Niagara '12) | Record: 54-21
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock jumped out to an 8-1 lead at halftime and cruised to an 18-9 win over reigning Great Midwest Athletic Conference champion Ashland in the season opener Wednesday at home. The Rock got points from eight different players and had seven players with multiple points in the game.
Maddie Blazey led the way with six points on three goals and three assists.
Grace Rotter added two goals and three assists,
Isabella Buono scored three goals and had two assists and
Abby Fink and
Reagan Richeson each had hat tricks.
Lily Ventresca made eight saves in goal and SRU outshot Ashland 35-22.
WINS IN 17 STRAIGHT SEASON OPENERS
Slippery Rock's win Wednesday against Ashland marked the 17th straight win in a season opener for SRU. The Rock have not lost their first game of the season since 2009.
HOME OPENER WIN STREAK
Slippery Rock's win Wednesday also marked its 14th straight home opening win. The last time The Rock lost their home opener was March 15, 2011, to No. 8 Gannon University, a 13-10 defeat.
THREE STRAIGHT TOURNEY TEAMS TO OPEN SEASON
Slippery Rock has one of the toughest early season schedules in the Atlantic Region with all three of its first opponents being NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago. The Rock opened the year with GMAC champion Ashland, travels to PSAC champion West Chester this weekend and will host No. 18 Grand Valley State March 1, the GLIAC champion from 2025.
BACK-TO-BACK 15-WIN SEASONS
Slippery Rock set the program record for wins in season with a 15-4 overall record in 2024 and then topped that with an 18-3 mark in 2025. The Rock have won 34 games since the beginning of the 2024 season and are 34-7 over that stretch.
FOUR STRAIGHT 10-WIN SEASONS
Last spring marked the fourth straight 10-win season for Slippery Rock, marking the first time in program history the team has strung together four consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins.
EIGHT SCORERS IN THE OPENER
Slippery Rock got points from eight different players in the opener Wednesday, led by
Maddie Blazey with six points (3g, 3a),
Isabella Buono with five points (3g, 2a) and
Grace Rotter with five points (2g, 3a).
Abby Fink (3g, 1a) and
Reagan Richeson (3g) both had hat tricks to give SRU four players with hat tricks.
Ava Dossier (2g),
Caitlyn Kelly (1g, 1a) and
Cadyn Eismann (1g) rounded out the point scorers.
FIRST CAREER POINTS IN FIRST CAREER GAME
Freshman midfield
Caitlyn Kelly made her first career start and tallied her first points earlier this week with one goal and one assist against Ashland.
OTHER DEBUTS
Slippery Rock started three freshmen in the season opener with
Caitlyn Kelly and
Aleigha Dubroc starting in the midfield and
Violet Freebody starting on defense. Kelly tallied one goal and one assist, Dubroc caused two turnovers and Freebody picked up three ground balls. SRU also saw freshman
Danielle Raymond appear off the bench with Raymond causing one turnover and picking up one ground ball.
CAREER-HIGH FOR BLAZEY
Maddie Blazey's six points in the opener marked a career-high for her, topping her previous career high of five points.
DRAW CIRCLE
Grace Rotter and
Shannon Von Kaenel combined for all 16 of the SRU draw controls in the win over Ashland with Rotter snagging 10 and Von Kaenel pulling down six herself.
VENTRESCA GETS ANOTHER WIN
After setting the SRU single-season record for goalie wins last year with a 16-1 record,
Lily Ventresca picked up where she left off with another win in the opener. She saved eight shots, caused one turnover and picked up four ground balls.
PENALTY WOES
Slippery Rock took eight cards in the opener while Ashland took 10 cards for a total of 18 penalties in the game. Among those cards, SRU All-American defender
Paige Jenkins was hit with a pair of yellow cards, forcing her to sit for nearly the entire second half.
THREE PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Slippery Rock had three players named to the USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason All-America team this year, headlined by first team defender
Paige Jenkins. Attacker
Grace Rotter was named to second team honors and goalie
Lily Ventresca was named to the honorable mention squad. All three women were named to at least one All-America team after the 2025 season with Jenkins becoming the first SRU player in program history to earn coaches association first team All-America honors. Rotter was also named to the coaches association third team and Ventresca picked up USA Lacrosse Magazine honorable mention recognition.
CAPTAINS
The Rock named three captains for the year with
Sydney Ulmer,
Isabella Buono and
Ava Drath set to serve as the team captains.
SRU PLAYERS IN TOP 20 IN CAREER RECORD BOOK
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Paige Jenkins – 136 draw controls (No. 8 at SRU – needs 10 to move up to No. 7)
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Reagan Richeson – 92 goals (No. 12 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 11)
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Paige Jenkins – 66 caused turnovers (No. 13 at SRU – needs 3 to move up to No. 12)
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Grace Rotter – 32 assists (No. 14 at SRU – needs 2 to move up to No. 13)
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Shannon Von Kaenel – 90 draw controls (No. 15 at SRU – needs 7 to move up to No. 14)
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Reagan Richeson – 107 points (No. 17 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 16)
UPCOMING STAT MILESTONES FOR SRU
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Maddie Blazey: 5 points away from 50
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Isabella Buono: 23 goals away from 75
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Isabella Buono: 25 points away from 100
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Ava Dossier: 16 points away from 50
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Abby Fink: 23 points away from 100
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Abby Fink: 14 goals away from 75
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Abby Fink: 12 GB away from 50
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Paige Jenkins: 14 DC away from 150
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Paige Jenkins: 9 CT away from 75
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Paige Jenkins: 7 GB away from 75
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Erin Melcher: 12 points away from 50
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Reagan Richeson: 18 points away from 125
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Reagan Richeson: 8 goals away from 100
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Reagan Richeson: 6 GB away from 50
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Grace Rotter: 13 points away from 100 at SRU*
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Lily Ventresca: 8 GB away from 50
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Shannon Von Kaenel: 10 DC away from 100
* Rotter scored 33 points on 21 goals and 12 assists at Notre Dame College before transferring to SRU after the 2024 season
WEST CHESTER PRIMER
• Overall Record: 1-0 (19-1 in 2025)
• PSAC Record: 0-0 (12-0 in 2025)
• Home Record: 0-0 (13-1 in 2025)
• Away Record: 0-0 (6-0 in 2025)
• Streak: L1
• Last Five Games: 4-1 (dating back to 2025)
• Head Coach: Ginny Martino (28th season, UMass '88) | Record: 424-84
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN RAMS
West Chester has lost just one total game in each of the last three seasons, falling in the regional final to SRU in 2025, in the regional final to East Stroudsburg in 2024 and in the national championship game to Pace in 2023. The Rams have not lost a regular season game since March 22, 2022 and enter this weekend riding a streak of 60 consecutive regular season wins.
WCU returns 15 letterwinners from the 2025 team including all five of the team's top scorers. The headliner of the group is All-American grad student Keri Barnett, who scored 115 goals and finished with 146 points last year. Sydney Wasdick scored 65 goals and had 74 points a year ago. She also led the team with 119 draw controls. Kendall Fortune (50g, 17a), Lila McMahon Skates (34g, 31a) and Madeline Edinger (35g, 16a) all tallied at least 50 points last season.
Senior defenders Kara Stewart and Natalie Goldsmith and sophomore Caitlin Trickett are back to lead the defense. Trickett led the returning defenders with 25 caused turnovers last year, while Stewart tallied 20 and Goldsmith had 15.
Both goalies from last year are also back with Hannah Cornelius and Morgan Koons. Cornelius went 13-1 with a 9.91 goals against average and a .370 save percentage while Koons was 6-0 with a 9.16 goals against average and a .397 save percentage. They will be joined this year by Division I transfer Korrigan Sweeney, a 6-foot-tall goalie that appeared in nine games at Duquesne last year.
NEXT UP
Slippery Rock will return home to close out a tough three-game stretch against NCAA Tournament teams next Sunday, March 1, with a noon game against No. 18 Grand Valley State.
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