SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The seventh-ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team returns home to host No. 19 Grand Valley State University Sunday with first draw set for noon from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
GAME PROGRAM INFO
Slippery Rock has moved away from printed game programs. This page will serve as the "Digital Game Program" for this week's game. To navigate to all gameday info for any SRU home events this year, simply visit rockathletics.com/gameday or scan the QR code on the "Gameday Info" posters hanging in each facility.
 

Slippery Rock vs. Grand Valley State
The Rock (2-0)	GVSU Lakers (0-0)
Roster	Roster
Schedule	Schedule
Statistics	2025 Statistics
Coach: Taryn Burkholder	Coach Dominique Hamman
Program Records	Program Records
Mihalik-Thompson Stadium

 
SPECTATOR INFO
There will be no parking charges for this game. Fans are reminded that there are NO PETS allowed in any SRU athletics facilities. Please do not bring dogs or any other pets to the game. You will be asked to remove your pet from the facility. Parking is available on a first-come basis in the lots immediately surrounding the stadium. 
 
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.
 • Search for "Rock Athletics Digital Network" in the app stores on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku and Android TV devices.
 
GAME 3 DETAILS
• Opponent: No. 19 Grand Valley State University
• Date: Sunday, March 1, 2026  |  Noon
• Location: Mihalik-Thompson Stadium  |  Slippery Rock Pa.
• All-Time Series: First meeting
• Current Streak: First meeting
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS  |  IWLCA  |  USA Lacrosse Magazine
Slippery Rock moved up four spots in both the IWLCA and USA Lacrosse Magazine polls this week and sits at No. 7 in the IWLCA rankings and No. 5 in the USA Lacrosse rankings. Grand Valley State comes in at No. 19 in the IWLCA poll and No. 16 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll.
 
RECORDS
Slippery Rock is 2-0 after picking up wins over Ashland and West Chester last week to open the season. The Rock have not played since last Saturday when they upset No. 5 West Chester 13-12 on the road. Grand Valley State will play its first game of the season Friday at No. 21 Seton Hill before traveling to Slippery Rock Sunday.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Sunday's game will mark the first ever meeting between Slippery Rock and Grand Valley State in the sport of women's lacrosse.
 
TWO NCAA TOURNEY TEAMS FROM LAST YEAR
Sunday's game will feature two teams that went to the NCAA Tournament last season with The Rock reaching the national semifinals and Grand Valley State reaching the second round of the tournament.
 
THREE STRAIGHT AGAINST CONFERENCE CHAMPS
This will mark the third straight game for Slippery Rock to open this season against a defending conference champion and NCAA Tournament qualifier from 2025. The Rock opened the year with GMAC champion Ashland, traveled to PSAC champion West Chester and will now host GLIAC champion Grand Valley State. The Lakers have not lost a conference game in the GLIAC in more than five years and are the runaway favorites to win the league again this year.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Overall Record: 2-0 (18-3 in 2025)
• PSAC Record: 0-0 (10-0 in 2025)
• Home Record: 1-0 (6-0 in 2025)
• Away Record: 1-0 (11-2 in 2025)
• Streak: W2
• Last Five Games: 4-1 (dating back to 2025)
• Head Coach: Taryn Burkholder (5th season, Niagara '12)  |  Record: 55-21
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock is coming off a 13-12 win on the road last Saturday at then No. 5 West Chester, which marked the first regular season loss for the Golden Rams since March 22, 2022, snapping a streak of 60 straight regular season wins. The Rock outscored WCU 4-1 in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback after trailing by three goals at halftime. Grace Rotter tallied the game-winning goal with just under five minutes to play in the fourth quarter and finished her day with  five points on three goals and two assists. Reagan Richeson added four goals, Isabella Buono chipped in two goals and two assists and Sydney Ulmer scored one goal and added one assist.
 
PSAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
The Rock swept the PSAC West Athlete of the Week awards this week with Grace Rotter being named the Athlete of the Week and Paige Jenkins earning the Defensive Athlete of the Week honor. Rotter finished the opening week of the season with 10 total points on five goals and five assists to go along with 13 draw controls across the two games. Jenkins led the defense in both games and finished the week with five caused turnovers, six ground balls and three draw controls.
 
BALANCED SCORING
Slippery Rock has seen 10 different players score points through the first two games of the year including eight players that have tallied at least two points. Grace Rotter leads the way with 10 points on five goals and five assists while also ranking second on the team with 13 draw controls. Isabella Buono is second in scoring with five goals and four assists for nine points, while Maddie Blazey has eight points with three goals and five assists. The top scorers are capped by Reagan Richeson with a team-high seven goals and Abby Fink and Caitlyn Kelly with three goals and one assist each. Ava Dossier (2g, 1a), Sydney Ulmer (1g, 1a), Ella Koslowski (1g) and Cadyn Eismann (1g) round out the point scorers.
 
DRAW CIRCLE
Shannon Von Kaenel leads the team with 17 draw controls and has helped SRU to post an overall advantage of 34-23 for SRU in the draw circle through two games. Grace Rotter has pulled down 13 draws as those two have combined for 30 of the team's 34 draw controls.
 
LET'S TALK DEFENSE
Slippery Rock has racked up 22 caused turnovers in two games and is limiting opponents to 74.2 percent on clear attempts. All-American Paige Jenkins leads the defense with five caused turnovers and six ground balls. Freshman Aleigha Dubroc is second on the team with three caused turnovers, while fellow freshman Violet Freebody has two caused turnovers and six ground balls.
 
UP AND DOWN WEEK IN THE CAGE
Slippery Rock's goalkeeping went through and up and down week last week with Lily Ventresca looking sharp in the opener with eight saves in the win over Ashland before struggling against the high-powered West Chester attack. Ventresca allowed 10 goals and made two saves before giving way to Ava Drath, who played the final 20:13 at WCU and allowed two goals with one save, which came in the final 90 seconds and secured the win. The Rock finished the week with a 10.50 goals against average and a .344 save percentage.
 
SRU PLAYERS IN TOP 20 IN CAREER RECORD BOOK
• Paige Jenkins – 139 draw controls (No. 8 at SRU – needs 7 to move up to No. 7)
• Reagan Richeson – 96 goals (No. 11 at SRU – needs 7 to move up to No. 10)
• Paige Jenkins – 69 caused turnovers (No. 12 at SRU – needs 6 to move up to No. 11)
• Grace Rotter – 34 assists (No. 13 at SRU – needs 4 to move up to No. 12)
• Shannon Von Kaenel – 101 draw controls (No. 14 at SRU – needs 7 to move up to No. 13)
• Reagan Richeson – 111 points (No. 15 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 14)
• Isabella Buono – 25 assists (No. 20 at SRU – needs 3 to move up to No. 19)
 
UPCOMING STAT MILESTONES FOR SRU
• Maddie Blazey: 3 points away from 50
• Isabella Buono: 21 goals away from 75
• Isabella Buono: 21 points away from 100
• Ava Dossier: 15 points away from 50
• Abby Fink: 23 points away from 100
• Abby Fink: 14 goals away from 75
• Abby Fink: 12 GB away from 50
• Paige Jenkins: 11 DC away from 150
• Paige Jenkins: 6 CT away from 75
• Paige Jenkins: 3 GB away from 75
• Erin Melcher: 12 points away from 50
• Reagan Richeson: 14 points away from 125
• Reagan Richeson: 4 goals away from 100
• Reagan Richeson: 6 GB away from 50
• Grace Rotter: 8 points away from 100 at SRU*
• Lily Ventresca: 6 GB away from 50
• Shannon Von Kaenel: 24 DC away from 125
* Rotter scored 33 points on 21 goals and 12 assists at Notre Dame College before transferring to SRU after the 2024 season
 
GRAND VALLEY STATE PRIMER
• Overall Record: 0-0 (16-4 in 2025)
• GLIAC Record: 0-0 (8-0 in 2025)
• Home Record: 0-0 (6-2 in 2025)
• Away Record: 0-0 (9-2 in 2025)
• Streak: L1 (going into Friday's opener at Seton Hill)
• Last Five Games: 4-1 (dating back to 2025)
• Head Coach: Dominique Hamman (2nd season, Central Michigan '19)  |  Record: 16-4
 
SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Grand Valley State enters its season opener Friday at No. 21 Seton Hill as the 2026 GLIAC preseason favorites after claiming the conference regular season and tourney titles last year. The Lakers went 16-4 overall in 2025 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling 17-14 to No. 4 Maryville. All four the team's losses last spring came to teams ranked in the top 10 with a pair of losses to Maryville, a loss to eventual national semifinalist Indianapolis and a loss at No. 10 Regis.
 
Grand Valley returns seven players that earned All-GLIAC honors last spring, led by Goalkeeper of the Year Sarah Krause, who put up a .547 save percentage last spring. GVSU also returns All-American defender Kylie Waeghe and a pair of All-GLIAC defenders in Quinn McElroy and Karleigh Rothe.
 
GVSU returns three second team All-Conference honorees on the offensive side with Gracie Bancroft, Jillian Bingman and Ella Boose, who all tallied at least 40 points and 25 goals last spring. Bancroft is the top returning goal scorer with 37 markers in 2025, while Boose scored 31 goals and led the team in draw controls with 74.
 
Sarah Krause played just under 50 percent of the minutes in goal last year, playing 582 of 1,191 total minutes in a split role. She appeared in all 20 games and went 2-1 officially while leading the team with a 7.53 goals against average and a .547 save percentage.
 
NEXT UP
Slippery Rock will play its first opponent of the year that did not win a conference title last spring with a road trip to D'Youville in Buffalo, New York next Saturday for a 1 p.m. game. The Rock will then host Wheeling University March 11 at 4 p.m. before heading to South Carolina for spring break games at Lander and Newberry.
 
 



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