Boxscore

INDIANA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University field hockey team played the role of spoilers Saturday afternoon as The Rock defeated Indiana (Pa.) 1-0 to eliminate the No. 7 Crimson Hawks from Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament contention.

The win gives Slippery Rock an overall record of 6-14 and a PSAC-West mark of 3-5. The six wins are the most by SRU since 1998.

With Mansfield University defeating Mercyhurst earlier in the day, Indiana (Pa.) (8-9, 3-5 PSAC-West) needed to defeat SRU to secure its sport in the PSAC-Tournament. The senior duo of Katie Krouse and goalie Lisa Belcastro made sure that would not happen.

Krouse was responsible for the game's only goal which was more than enough for Belcastro, who stopped 10 shots for her third shutout of the season.

Slippery Rock recorded just three shots in the opening 35 minutes of play, but was able to fend off 13 shots and 11 corners by the Crimson Hawks as the score was tied at 0-0 heading into halftime.

Over 15 minutes of time had passed in the second half when Krouse took a pass from sophomore Gabrielle Malishchak and scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal at 50:09. The score was Krouse's fifth goal of the season and her second game-winning shot.

Indiana (Pa.) continued to be the aggressors, but was contained by Belcastro and the rest of The Rock's defenders as Slippery Rock was able to hang on for the 1-0 win.  

Freshman Allison Banks finished the game with a team-high four shots. Senior Allie Hartman also added a shot for SRU.

The victory is the Green and White's second of the season over Indiana (Pa.). IUP held a 24-6 advantage in shots and a 21-4 edge in corners for the game.