Box Score

The No. 1-ranked Shippensburg University field hockey team shut out Mercyhurst 5-0 in its regular season road finale on Wednesday afternoon and clinched the PSAC Western Division No. 1 seed in next week's PSAC playoffs.

By virtue of No. 3 Indiana's (Pa.) 4-3 road loss at Seton Hill on Wednesday, the Raiders (16-1, 8-1 PSAC West) have locked up the top seed in the West for the fourth straight season.

SU bypasses the PSAC Quarterfinals and earns a berth in the PSAC Semifinals next Fri., Oct. 26 against the winner of the No. 2 and 3 seeds in the East.

Shippensburg made the most of its 16 shots against the Lakers (6-11, 3-6), as senior Taylor Jones and sophomore Tori Ricker each scored twice (Ricker also had an assist) while junior Taylor Bender added a goal and an assist.

Senior Ciarra Delost played into the second half and earned the victory in goal. Junior Carenna Neely made two saves in just over 18 minutes of relief before freshman Taylor Webster played the final 10 minutes and recorded one save to finish the team shutout.

Jones opened up the scoring 10 minutes into the game when she rebounded in a saved shot from sophomore Ari Saytar.

The game remained 1-0 until the end of the first half when Ricker scored both of her goals in a span of just over a minute-and-a-half. She sent in a loose ball off a rebound for her first goal before a pass from Bender left her with an open net on the left side of the goal for a 3-0 Shippensburg lead.

Jones connected on her eighth goal of the season – the third straight season in which she's scored eight goals – 2:36 into the second half off an assist from senior Kayla Harshman for a 4-0 Shippensburg lead. Bender finished out the scoring 15 minutes later with her 10th goal of the season off an assist from Ricker.

The Raiders return home on Saturday for their regular season finale, an 11 a.m. contest against Seton Hill from Robb Sports Complex. SU will celebrate Senior Day before the game and honor its seven seniors – Jones, Delost, Harshman, Sam Langone, Jamie Levy, Amanda Burridge and Emily Kohlbus.