Field Hockey Tripped Up at Slippery Rock, 3-1

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. (September 9, 2022) -- The Franklin Pierce University field hockey team hit the road on Friday, for the front end of a two-game weekend swing through western Pennsylvania. A 3-0 hole proved too deep to climb out of for the Ravens, as host Slippery Rock picked up a 3-1 win in non-conference play at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. Freshman Grace Morey (Danvers, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal in defeat for Franklin Pierce.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 0-2, while Slippery Rock improves to 2-1. The Ravens will wrap up their trip to the Keystone State -- the team's first since 2018 -- with a visit to Mercyhurst at noon on Sunday, in Erie, Pa. The game at Saxon Stadium is a return trip for Franklin Pierce, which posted a 5-1 victory over the Lakers at home last fall.

Slippery Rock opened the scoring on Friday on a corner midway through the first quarter, in the eighth minute. Sophomore Leslie Colliver took the corner on the left side and inserted it to the top of the circle for junior Erin Roland. Roland took one step inside the arc and fired. Her shot one-hopped through traffic untouched and slipped into the right side of the net for first goal of the season.

On the other side of the quarter break, in the 20^th minute, it was Colliver's turn, though it was sophomore Haley Metcalf who did the heavy lifting on the play. After the Franklin Pierce defense played the ball out of bounds, Metcalf took possession on the right wing in the midfield. She carried on her own all the way to the end line and cut towards the goal from there. As she neared the right post, Metcalf slipped a pass into the middle for Colliver, who had a simple one-time finish for her second of the year.

The Rock made it a goal in each of the first three quarters with a strike at the 39-minute mark. Out wide on the right wing, senior Kayla Del Vecchio found a seam through the defense to fire a centering pass out front. The feed found Bailee Christman just ahead of the penalty spot, and the sophomore brushed it inside the left post for her first of the campaign.

The Ravens got on the board in the fourth quarter to create the 3-1 final, in the 52^nd minute. In the midfield on the right-wing side, sophomore Rebecca Phillips (West Amwell, N.J.) was able to spot a one-on-one matchup out front and created just enough space to take advantage of it. Phillips deked her mark in the midfield to open a passing lane and fired a 15-yard service to the goal mouth. With her position well-staked in front of the right post, Morey was able to get her stick to the ball and deftly redirected it home for her first career goal.

The game played fairly even statistically, as Franklin Pierce used a 7-4 margin in the final quarter to hold a 12-11 edge in shot attempts for the game, while Slippery Rock posted an 8-7 advantage in shots on goal. The teams combined for 13 penalty corners -- 9-4 in favor of the Rock -- but the only conversion was Roland's opening tally.

Franklin Pierce split goalkeeping duties on the day. Senior MacKenzie Potvin (Goffstown, N.H.) minded the cage in the first half, made one save against three shots and suffered the loss (0-2). Sophomore Addy Araneo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) took over for the second half and stopped four of five shots the rest of the way. Sophomore Grace Burker (2-1) made six stops against seven shots in the win for Slippery Rock.