Historic Slippery Rock Team Still Defying Expectations

Last weekend, Slippery Rock earned its first NCAA tournament win in program history with a 9-6 road victory at East Stroudsburg. The fact that the Rock, the higher seed in the Atlantic Region, had to travel to face its lower-seeded opponent may be a clue of how far the program has risen.

As the No. 2 seed in the region, Slippery Rock was in position to host No. 3 seed ESU, but the Rock’s home venue, Mihalik-Thompson Stadium, was unavailable because it was serving as host site for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Track & Field Championships.

Evidently, nobody anticipated that there could be a conflict with women’s lacrosse and the NCAA tournament.

Slippery Rock officials tried to secure an alternate lacrosse facility in the area, but no facilities were available.

“We just used going on the road as another motivation piece, and in truth, a lot of people were probably considering us as the underdog anyway since we’ve never made it this far,” head coach Taryn Burkholder said. “That just goes to the mentality that we’ve had all year. You have to adjust and adapt.”

Slippery Rock took care of business, beating ESU for the third time this season and improving to 17-2 overall, a new school record for wins in a season, to advance to Saturday’s national quarterfinals for the first time.

They now have a rematch against No. 1 West Chester, which defeated them 17-11 on May 4 in the PSAC championship game. The Golden Rams (19-0) are the only undefeated team in the nation.

“We did a lot of good things in that first game against West Chester, but unfortunately, we hurt ourselves with too many turnovers,” Burkholder said. “I think we just have to clean that up, and hopefully, it will be a different game this time.”

After winning a school-record 15 games in 2024, Slippery Rock was tabbed to finish second in the Western Division in the 2025 PSAC preseason coaches’ poll. Despite the loss of five all conference players from last year, including its top two scorers who combined for 80 goals and the starting goalie, the Rock exceeded expectations and won the PSAC West title for the first time.

“We graduated six starters from last year, but we’ve had key players step up this season, which has been amazing to see,” Burkholder said.

Now in her fourth year as head coach, Burkholder keeps raising the bar at Slippery Rock. She became the first coach in program history to put together four straight 10-win seasons, and the Rock’s 32 victories over the past two seasons marks the most wins in a two-year stretch since the program launched in 1976.

Burkholder, who won her second straight PSAC West Coach of the Year honor in 2025, points to team culture as one of the key reasons for the program’s rise.

“It’s been really unique to see these players come together and play for each other,” she said. “I know that every coach preaches culture, but there really is an amazing atmosphere in our locker room. These girls truly respect each other.”

This year’s Slippery Rock offense has been historic, with three players amassing at least 40 goals and 50 points for just the second time in team history. Grace Rotter (45G, 23A), Reagan Richeson (48G, 11A) and Abby Fink (46G, 12A) were all named to the All-PSAC team as attackers this spring.

Meanwhile, the Rock also have a defense that ranks among the nation’s best. Slippery Rock is seventh in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 8.05 goals per game, sixth nationally in caused turnovers with 13.3 per game, and 20th nationally with 21.2 ground balls per game.

Led by USA Lacrosse All-Americans Paige Jenkins and Nicole Masi, as well as four-year starter Amelia Nitsche, the veteran defensive unit has allowed double-digit goals just seven times in 19 games. Goalie Lily Ventresca ranks first in the PSAC and fourth in the nation with an 8.10 goals against average.

“We take a lot of pride in what we do, and we are just one collective unit,” said Nitsche, Slippery Rock’s all-time leader in games played. “We know the strength we have, so we don’t accept anything less. We have a defense that just wants to get better every single day.”

Although Slippery Rock has never beaten West Chester, Nitsche says the team is ready for the challenge of facing the PSAC’s premier program and possibly being regional champions.

“We know they are a great team, but we’re really excited to have the chance to play them again,” she said. “We know what we can do. We want to make history.”

NCAA Women’s Division II Quarterfinals 

All games scheduled for 3 p.m. local time Saturday

Slippery Rock (17-2) at West Chester (19-0)
Pace (17-4) at Adelphi (17-3)
UIndy (14-3) at Maryville (19-1)
Florida Southern (18-2) at Tampa (18-1)