GAME OVERVIEW
• After winning 10 straight, Millersville finally saw its win streak come to an end last Wednesday. No. 1 Shippensburg downed the No. 3 Marauders with a 2-1 win to clinch home field advantage in the PSAC Tournament. Millersville is still in great shape to earn one of the two byes in the upcoming conference tournament. If the Marauders win on Saturday, Millersville will clinch the No. 2 seed in the PSAC Tournament. The Marauders won the PSAC Championship last season.
• Despite the loss in their last game, the Marauders have looked like a completely different team than they were in the beginning weeks of the season. Even in comparison to the last time the Marauders met Ship, they fared much better as the first matchup saw Ship beat Ville, 6-1. After a .500 start through six games, Millersville has turned into one of the premier teams in the nation. It's hard to believe that at one point the Marauders had fallen out of the top 10. Now, the Marauders are back at No. 3 for the second consecutive week. Millersville also ranks No. 3 in the NCAA Atlantic Regional poll and look safe for a fifth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
• Saturday's game against Slippery Rock will be the final chance in the regular season for the Marauders to show the NCAA committee what they are capable of and why they should be considered strongly for the NCAA Tournament. The PSAC Tournament, which takes place Oct. 31-Nov. 5 follows the game against The Rock and will truly be the final opportunity for teams to show what they are made of. Last season, Millersville entered the PSAC Tournament ranked fourth in the PSAC standings and left as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Atlantic Region.
• With the final game of the regular season coming at home, Millersville will also be celebrating Senior Day. Seniors
Kathleen Bishop,
Maci Langone,
Courtney Weaver,
Kylee Bair and
Moriah Woods will be recognized before the game. It will surely be a day filled with emotions as all five graduating players are well-aware that they have been a part of history. Starting in 2014 as freshmen, the players were a part of the team that took home the National Championship. The following two seasons the Marauders made the NCAA Tournament. The group has also played in three PSAC Championship games, winning 2016 edition.
ABOUT THE SERIES
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Shelly Behrens was named Millersville's head coach in 2008, and since then, the Marauders have gone 11-0 against The Rock with 10 consecutive shutouts. The Rock has not scored a goal against the Marauders since 2008. The teams met twice last year with Millersville winning the home game by a 1-0 score. Millersville, however, out-shot The Rock 12-1.
Margaret Thorwart scored the lone goal in the first half.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Slippery Rock is headed to the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 2014. Its 10 wins are the most in season during Julie Swiney's tenure. The Rock could earn a first round home game depending on the final weekend of play. West Chester and Bloomsburg also have 5-4 conference records.
• Millersville will need to mark Kayla Ulrich. Ulrich has a team-leading 11 goals. No other player on the team has more than five. Ulrich has three two-goal games but has not scored since Oct. 11.
• Slippery Rock has used two goalkeepers almost alternately. While Nicole Bream has 15 starts, Maddie Murphy has played in all 17 games with two starts and has more minutes (634) than Bream (563). The duo has shared all three shutouts. Bream has slightly a slightly better goals against average (1.49) and save percentage (.760).
