Slippery Rock University Athletics

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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The seventh ranked Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team won the first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title in program history with an 11-10 win over No. 15 Kutztown University Sunday in the PSAC Championship game from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to a national best 20-0 on the season and become the first collegiate women's lacrosse program from any level to reach 20 wins. Kutztown drops to 14-6 with the loss with all six losses coming against top 10 ranked opponents.
 
Slippery Rock earned the automatic qualifier from the PSAC for the upcoming NCAA Tournament and will find out its seeding and path in the tournament Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. when the NCAA announces the playoff field. The Rock are a lock to earn a first round bye and will likely draw the No. 1 seed in the region. SRU is the lone unbeaten team in the region and has the No. 1 RPI and NCAA Performance Indicator scores in the region.
 
The win Saturday capped a thrilling weekend for SRU Athletics as The Rock claimed three titles in a stretch of less than 36 hours with the women's tennis team and the women's track & field team both winning PSAC championships Saturday. The men's track & field team also took runner-up honors Saturday to give SRU four trophies in four chances this weekend.
 
Slippery Rock scored just 49 seconds into the game Sunday when Abby Fink converted a pass from Reagan Richeson. The Rock extended the lead to 2-0 with a second marker from Fink at the 9:42 mark before Kutztown poured in three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead with 4:07 left in the first quarter of what would be a back-and-forth game all day. The teams traded goals to close the first with the Bears leading 4-3.
 
Slippery Rock owned the second period, outscoring Kutztown 3-0 with a goal from Richeson and a pair of goals from Grace Rotter to take a 6-4 lead into the break.
 
Kutztown quickly returned the favor and leveled the score at 6-6 with two early goals to start the third quarter. The Rock matched that push with their own 2-0 run with goals from Richeson and Sydney Ulmer to retake a two-goal lead, 8-6, with 2:21 to play in the third. KU added a man-up goal with 48 seconds left in the period to send it to the fourth with SRU leading 8-7.
 
As has been the case most of the year, Slippery Rock looked poised for a dominant fourth quarter and opened the final period with three straight goals to extend the lead to a game-high four goals at 11-7 with 8:26 to play, but Kutztown rallied once again.
 
The Bears scored goals at 7:43 and 4:58 to make it 11-9 and then took advantage of a yellow card on SRU to score their third man-up goal of the game with 2:32 to play to cut it to 11-10.
 
Slippery Rock turned the ball over for the 24th time after winning the final draw control and set Kutztown up with a chance to tie the game on a final possession. The Bears got a point-blank look from their leading scorer Katie Yocum with just over a minute to play, but Yocum had to shoot around SRU goalie Lily Ventresca and hit the post with her attempt. SRU defender Paige Jenkins corralled the ground ball and SRU cleared the zone and ran out the clock to preserve the 11-10 win.
 
Ventresca was named the Championship MVP after recording 10 saves in the game, including eight in the first half when Kutztown was threatening early. She also caused one turnover and grabbed four ground balls on the way to improving to 19-0 on the year.
 
Kutztown outshot Slippery Rock 29-22 and limited SRU to a season-low in shots. The Rock actually finished the game with more turnovers (24) than shots (22) and went 11-of-18 on clear attempts as the Golden Bears physical brand of defense caused issues all day. KU also put up a 20-17 edge in ground balls, while Slippery Rock posted a 15-8 advantage in draw controls.
 
Richeson paced the attack for Slippery Rock with seven points on four goals and three assists. Rotter and Fink each added two goals and one assist as SRU finished with just three players with multiple points. Ulmer, Isabella Buono and Maddie Blazey each scored one goal to cap the point scorers.
 
Paige Jenkins led the defense with three caused turnovers and three ground balls while also pulling down five draw controls. Richeson and Cadyn Eismann each caused two turnovers and Shannon Von Kaenel pulled down nine draw controls.
 
Kutztown was led by Lauren LaMorte with six points on four goals and two assists. Alexis Plesic added two goals and two assists and Yocum netted a pair of goals. Marissa Bragg took the loss in goal after recording five saves.
 
Slippery Rock is set to make its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the second appearance in program history. The Rock reached the national semifinals last spring after winning the regional title as the No. 2 seed. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced Sunday evening at NCAA.com at 8:30 p.m.
 
 

 
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