KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Senior Erin Reynolds and sophomore Anna Behm each tallied two goals in Kutztown's victory against Slippery Rock on Friday afternoon at University Field.
Friday marked the opening game of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play around the league. With the win, Kutztown (4-3, 1-0 PSAC) finds itself tied atop the standings, while Slippery Rock (3-4, 0-1 PSAC) mixes in with the 0-1 teams at the bottom.
In an exciting game powered by 44 total shots, the two squads traded the lead on three different occasions.
Reynolds opened up the scoring in the 15th minute, when a Kutztown cross bounced its way through multiple players, landing on Reynolds' stick on the far side. She quickly wound up and fired the ball into the back of the cage before the goalie could react.
Kutztown struck again 10 minutes later, when freshman Analyse Gaspich connected with Julia Snyder in the middle, who threw a quick shot on goal that snuck under the goalkeeper's foot.
Slippery Rock answered back right away. Haley Martin knocked down her teammates shot and fired it past KU goalkeeper Kayla Denlinger to make it 2-1 going into halftime.
The Rock came out firing in the second half, scoring two quick goals in the first five minutes, taking a 3-2 lead on KU.
Reynolds did not let SRU have the lead for long. Two minutes later, she maneuvered past two defenders down the middle, and ripped a rocket reverse chip into the back of the cage, tying the match at three apiece. Reynolds leads the team with six goals on the year.
Behm, in her second game back from an injury suffered during preseason camp, single-handedly put the game away for the Golden Bears.
In the 53rd minute, Behm found her way out of a scramble in front of the net, and pushed it past the SRU keeper. With less than two minutes to play, senior Jamie Koenig moved down the right side of the field, beat a defender and flicked the ball to Behm who was waiting and ready to knock the ball into the back of the net.
Although outshot 32-12, KU converted 50 percent of its shots on target into goals. Denlinger was huge for the Golden Bears in net, recording a career-high 18 saves. The KU defense got extra help with two goal-line defensive saves from sophomore Rayann Fink.
