MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — The Marauders battled with the No. 1 Shippensburg Raiders, nearly pulling off the upset, but came up short in a 1–0 loss.
 
The Marauders were forced to defend from the start, but Kerstin Koons and the back line were up for the task. The Raiders pushed until they got a penalty corner four minutes in, creating a flurry of chances that easily could have broken the scoreless tie. Koons made a save on an initial shot and held her ground as the Raiders jammed away at her pads to try and knock in a rebound before getting another corner. Koons made another save off the ensuing corner, and her defense helped her out blocking the last chance of that wave. A couple minutes later, the Marauders were backed in their own end again. Off another penalty corner, the Raiders had a look at an open net off a redirect attempt, but Caitlin Wassermann got her stick in the way to save the goal. Millersville was able to clear after that, getting some offensive zone time of its own three minutes later. The Marauders had a penalty corner, and Morgan Lennon took a pair of shots, one getting blocked, and the follow-up going wide.
 
The top-ranked Raiders quickly pressed again in the second quarter for the opening goal. Getting a penalty corner just over one minute into the frame, Shippensburg generated four shots, with the Marauders blocking one while Koons saved the other two on target. Closer to the halfway mark of the period and backed into their own end, Millersville defended another couple of chances that easily could have resulted in the opening goal. A shot from Agus Garibaldi was stopped by Koons, and Wassermann was in perfect position again to deny a rebound and neutralize the opportunity. The Marauders had a chance towards the end of the half to get on the board, but shots from Wassermann and Emily Buss were blocked and saved to keep the game scoreless at the half.
 
Each team had a quality chance in the third quarter that almost broke the tie. For Millersville, the Marauders defended a penalty corner at the midway point of the frame, as Myah Yesko forced the turnover and quickly moved it up field. Paige Webster was running down the left side, but her centering pass just missed the stick of Megan Alvarez for the tap-in goal. Recovering from giving up that chance, the Raiders pushed back and had two more penalty corners to end the period, but Koons made another stop before the horn sounded.
 
The Raiders did a good job of clogging up the midfield, preventing Millersville from breaking out of its own end. Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Raiders defense finally led to a high-danger chance, resulting in a penalty stroke. Garibaldi took the shot and converted for the Raiders, putting them up with eight minutes left in regulation. The Raiders kept the pressure on the Marauders, resulting in Millersville not able to get a shot to tie the game in the fourth, as Shippensburg would hold on to win 1–0. 
 
The Marauders are now .500 overall and against conference opponents, standing at 4–4 and 1–1 respectively. Millersville will look to get back in the win column at 3 p.m. on Friday Oct. 4 at Biemesderfer Stadium against Slippery Rock.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Wassermann made two defensive saves in the game, the first time since 2019 when Meredith Fagan recorded multiple defensive saves in the same game.
• Koons' 11 saves tied her personal record which she recorded twice. The first time her freshman year in 2021 also against Shippensburg, as well as against Lander last year.
• The Raiders led in the box score as well as the scoreboard, leading 24–5 in shots, 14–2 in shots on goal, and 15–5 in penalty corners.

 
POSTGAME REACTION FROM SHELLY BEHRENS

• Opening thoughts on the game: "It was a great game to be a part of. It hurts to be one goal away from being on the other end of things. I loved our fight. I don't think we were as sharp as we could have been, and that's credit to Shippensburg. I thought [Koons] was unbelievable and outstanding this evening."
• On the defensive side of things: "That was the best game I've seen from Kerstin. It stings because we could have played better, but I'm proud of how we played given that. Daniella Fazekas, Lotje Schulpen, Wassermann, and Morgan Lennon were fantastic for us tonight. We had our chances, and it's a matter of finishing now, and I think the players understand now what it takes, what needs to happen in order for us to convert our chances.
• On preparing for the game against Slippery Rock: "We have our 24-hour rule, but I think we're going to come back pretty motivated for that one."