The Raiders’ downhill spiral over the last couple weeks continued on Wednesday afternoon as the team dropped a contest against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) rival West Chester University 1-0 at Robb Sports Complex in Shippensburg.
The Shippensburg University field hockey team (2-3) failed to score a goal for the second time in its first five games this season.
The game’s lone goal occurred in the eighth minute of action when the Golden Rams found themselves with two golden opportunities deep in the SU zone. Senior Kat Roncoroni took a shot at point-blank range that SU goalkeeper Megan Lay was able to save. But Roncoroni recovered the rebound and her next shot went through Lay’s legs and into the net.
The Shippensburg defense was caught flat footed on that West Chester scoring opportunity. Once Roncoroni received the ball and got past one defender, there were no defenders in sight to help Lay prevent the goal from occurring.
Lay, a redshirt sophomore, did a stellar job in net outside of allowing the game’s only goal. West Chester took 16 shots, with eight of them being on goal. The Raiders’ offense was struggling, and Lay did a good job keeping the game within striking distance by making multiple huge saves throughout the second half.
The Golden Rams of West Chester did a good job limiting the Raiders’ offense by not allowing them to penetrate deep into their zone. They held the Raiders to only five shots, with three of them being on goal.
Up next for the Raiders is a home matchup with Mercyhurst University (1-3) on Friday at 6 p.m. at Robb Sports Complex.
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