Slippery Rock University Athletics

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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The seventh ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team punched its ticket to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship game for the second year in a row with a 13-7 win over No. 10 West Chester University Friday in the semifinal round of the PSAC Tournament from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock kept their perfect season alive and matched No. 1 Flagler University for the best record in the country at 19-0 with the win. West Chester dropped to 15-4 with the loss with all four losses coming to the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Atlantic Region with a pair of losses to East Stroudsburg and a pair of losses to SRU.
 
Slippery Rock will host No. 15 Kutztown University in the PSAC title game Sunday at 1 p.m. after the Golden Bears shocked previously undefeated and fourth ranked East Stroudsburg 10-8 in the other semifinal Friday, ending an 18-game winning streak for the Warriors.
 
The Rock and West Chester came out of the gates firing with both teams scoring in the opening minute Friday in a rematch of the 2025 PSAC and Atlantic Region title games. Grace Rotter scored just 13 seconds into the game, only to see Kendall Fortune respond just over 30 seconds later to level the game at 1-1 after just 48 seconds.
 
West Chester won the special teams battle in the first half, tallying a man-up goal and a pair of free position goals to build a 5-4 lead at halftime, despite SRU posting a 20-14 edge in shots.
 
Slippery Rock flipped the script in the second half and went on to dominate the final 30 minutes, outscoring West Chester 9-2 in the half to pull away for the win. The run started with a 5-0 push to open the second quarter and included another 4-0 push in the fourth quarter.
 
SRU controlled possession for huge chunks of clock in the second half thanks to a dominant 17-5 advantage in draw controls, which included a 9-3 edge in the second half. Shannon Von Kaenel was exceptional in the circle and pulled down a game-high 13 draw controls for her third straight game with 13 or more draw controls.
 
The Rock used that possession advantage to outshoot West Chester 36-20 in total shots and 26-13 in shots on goal. The 20 total shots were the fewest by any WCU team since getting off 18 shots in the 2023 National Championship game and the seven goals scored was the fewest for the Golden Rams in a game in nearly seven years dating back to an 11-5 loss in the 2019 national title game.
 
Isabella Buono became the third player on the current SRU roster to reach 100 career goals and third player on this year's team to reach 50 goals this season with four goals and one assist to lead the attack. Rotter tallied three goals and two assists to match her with five points. Reagan Richeson and Abby Fink each netted a pair of goals, Maddie Blazey handed out two assists and Caitlyn Kelly had one goal and one assist to give SRU six players with multiple points.
 
Cadyn Eismann added one goal and Violet Freebody added one assist on an outlet pass to cap the point scorers. Eismann also led the team with three caused turnovers and she grabbed two ground balls. Paige Jenkins caused two turnovers and picked up four ground balls and Aleigha Dubroc added two caused turnovers.
 
Lily Ventresca was solid in goal, especially in the first half during an early push from West Chester. She finished the game with six saves, including five in the first half. She also caused one turnover and grabbed three ground balls while improving to 18-0 this season and 34-1 in her career.
 
West Chester was led by Lila McMahon-Skates with three goals and one assist and Forture with two goals and one assist. Goalie Morgan Koons set a new career-high with 13 saves, including nine in the first half.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift focus to a PSAC title game showdown with a Kutztown program in a similar situation. Both schools dropped their lacrosse programs in the early 1990's before reinstating the programs in the late 2000's. The Rock brought the sport back in 2007, while Kutztown brought it back in 2008. Both teams are looking for their first title since reinstatement. Kutztown has one previous title to its name in 1982, while SRU is searching for its first-ever lacrosse title. First draw in the championship game Sunday is set for 1 p.m. from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.





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