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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The seventh ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team advanced to the semifinals and earned hosting rights for the rest of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament with a 17-8 win over Shippensburg University in the quarterfinals Tuesday from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
Slippery Rock also saw a pair of single-season records fall Tuesday as Reagan Richeson broke the single-season record for goals and Lily Ventresca broke her own single-season record for goalie wins.
 
The Rock kept their unbeaten season alive to improve to 18-0 and advance to the PSAC semifinals for the third straight season. Shippensburg saw its season come to an end with a 7-11 overall record after reaching the conference tournament for the first time since 2007.
 
Slippery Rock was the lone team from the Western Division to pick up a win in the quarterfinals Tuesday and will now host the top three teams from the Eastern Division for the semifinals and championship this weekend. The Rock will play No. 10 West Chester in the first semifinal Friday at 1 p.m., while No. 4 East Stroudsburg will play No. 15 Kutztown in the second semifinal Friday at 4 p.m. The winners of Friday's games will play for the conference title Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Shippensburg opened the scoring in the third minute of the first period Tuesday with a goal from Olivia Glinski, but the lead would last less than three minutes until Reagan Richeson tied the game at 1-1 with 9:21 to play in the first.
 
The Rock took the lead for good with just under five minutes to play in the first quarter and poured in eight straight goals to open up an 8-1 lead early in the second.
 
SRU pushed the advantage to 10-2 early in the third quarter before the Raiders turned the tide and controlled the rest of the third period, tallying four straight goals to cut the lead to just 10-6 heading to the fourth.
 
Slippery Rock regrouped and put together a seven-goal fourth quarter to pull away for the comfortable win.
 
The Rock finished the game with advantages of 43-23 in total shots, 28-16 in shots on goal, 21-6 in draw controls and 20-15 in caused turnovers. Shippensburg managed a 27-24 edge in ground balls. The Raiders went 14-of-25 on clear attempts while SRU was 9-of-13.
 
Grace Rotter continued to keep her torrid pace late in the season and led the attack with six goals while also causing two turnovers. Richeson finished second in scoring on the day with four goals and one assist and in the process took over the No. 1 spot on the SRU single-season goal scoring ledger with 63 goals this season. She broke the former program record of 61, which was set by Amy Halls in 2011. Ironically enough, both Halls and Richeson went to the same high school near Columbus, Ohio (Olentangy).
 
Isabella Buono added three goals and one assist, Maddie Blazey scored one goal and handed out two assists, Cadyn Eismann and Abby Fink each netted one goal and Claire Petty and Ella Koslowski each added one assist. Shannon Von Kaenel was dominant in the draw circle and pulled down a game-high 14 draw controls. 
 
The final goal came from All-American defender Paige Jenkins, who scored her first goal of the season on her second shot of the season when she took a draw control and raced in alone for a breakaway goal. Jenkins, who now has two goals on three shots in her career, also led the defense with three caused turnovers, two ground balls and seven draw controls. Violet Freebody also added two caused turnovers, as did Richeson, Blazey and Koslowski.
 
Ventresca made eight saves in goal to pick up her 17th win of the season and move to 17-0 on the year. She topped her own single-season record for goalie wins, which she set last spring when she won 16 games.
 
Shippensburg was led by Ali Pioli with four points on two goals and two assists. Izzy Sawicki made 11 saves in goal.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift focus to the biggest game of the season, a postseason rematch with No. 10 West Chester Friday at 1 p.m. This will mark the third straight season these teams will meet in the PSAC Tournament and the second time they will meet this season. SRU earned a narrow 13-12 win on the road at West Chester back in February in what was the second game of the season for The Rock and the season opener for the Golden Rams.
 
A full preview for the semifinals and tournament info for the weekend, including ticket and live coverage info, will be posted Thursday.
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
No. 1 Slippery Rock defeat No. 4 Shippensburg - 17-8
No. 1 East Stroudsburg defeat No. 4 Lock Haven - 21-6
No. 2 West Chester defeat No. 3 IUP - 20-6
No. 3 Kutztown defeat No. 2 Seton Hill - 19-6

PSAC SEMIFINALS - FRIDAY AT SRU
1 p.m. - No. 1 Slippery Rock vs. No. 2 West Chester
4 p.m. - No. 1 East Stroudsburg vs. No. 3 Kutztown

PSAC CHAMPIONSHIP - SUNDAY AT SRU
1 p.m. - Semifinal Winners

 


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