INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP field hockey team shook off an early deficit before closing out a 2-1 victory in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action on Tuesday night at Miller Stadium.
 
IUP (5-2, 2-0) eventually settled in to dictate the game before using some more trademark defense on its way to a victory. Freshman Sydney Schmouder netted her first collegiate goal early in the second quarter to level the game at one before Claire Murphy added the game-winning marker a few minutes into the third.
 
Slippery Rock (2-6, 0-2) struck first on Tuesday with Gianna Conti sneaking behind the IUP defense and burying a rebound chance about 10 minutes into the contest. From there, Anita Planella and the IUP defense did not budge the rest of the way, allowing the offense to chip away.
 
Planella made four stops on the night and the Crimson Hawks swept aside several late chances for SRU down the stretch. IUP knotted the game around two minutes into the second quarter as Schmouder pounced on a scramble in front and snuck a chance past SRU goalie Grace Burker.
 
The score remained level until Claire Murphy sent a backhanded chance from the left slot into the cage just over four minutes into the third for the 2-1 lead.
 
Planella booted aside an Erin Roland chance from the high slot late in the fourth. SRU had two more penalty corners over the final two minutes of the contest, but could not get a shot through the IUP defense.  
 
Overall, IUP held an 11-9 edge in shots and a 14-7 edge in penalty corners.
 
IUP has now won six consecutive matchups against SRU dating back to 2018. The Hawks have outscored Slippery Rock by a 16-3 margin during that span.
 
Up Next
IUP returns home for another tough test, welcoming third-ranked Kutztown to Miller Stadium on Saturday, September 30 at 11:00 a.m.
 
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP field hockey on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPfieldhockey.

 

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