The No. 3 Shippensburg University field hockey team got two first-half goals Tuesday night from junior Lauren Zengulis and outstanding goaltending from redshirt-sophomore Ally Mooney, as the Raiders posted a 3-0 road non-conference victory at No. 6 Kutztown.
 
Shippensburg (6-1) posted a 17-10 overall advantage in shots, but just an 8-7 edge in shots on goal. Kutztown (4-2) earned nine penalty corners on the night compared to eight for the Raiders. Shippensburg's strong play in the first half was an important contributor in its sixth win of the season.
 
SU dictated play early on and capitalized at the 12:31 mark. Senior Cassie Rawa took a loose ball and made a great run up the end line, sneaking a pass through the crease that was sent home by Zengulis for the first goal of the game.
 
Mooney produced a sequence of impressive saves on consecutive penalty corners with less than seven minutes to go in the half, as the Golden Bears put forth an offensive surge before the intermission.
 
SU was able to capitalize just 2:13 before halftime, as Zengulis caged her second of the half and fourth of the season off a passing play with junior Rajchel Moore. Mooney made another stop on an untimed penalty corner at the end of the half, and SU entered the intermission with a 2-0 advantage.
 
The beginning of the second half featured an SU offensive blitz followed by a sea of cards. The officials handed out four cards – three yellow and one green – in a five-minute sequence. SU was down two players for about one minute of action, but the Golden Bears then had two players sent off soon after.
 
It was during this penalty barrage that Mooney came up big once again for the Raiders, making two saves on a KU scoring chance that stemmed from the first yellow card. Kutztown's pressure ramped up further, as the Golden Bears were territorially in SU's end for several minutes.
 
Shippensburg's defense minimized the onslaught midway through the half, as Kutztown was not credited with a shot over the final 20 minutes of play and managed just two corners down the stretch.
 
Sophomore Noelle Kephart clinched the victory with a late tally just 1:44 before the final horn. Kephart took control of the ball outside of KU's circle and dribbled her way into the scoring area, where she sent a reverse shot high over the keeper for her fifth goal of the season.
 
Mooney finished with a season-high seven saves for her fifth shutout of the year. She has allowed just one goal in more than 479 minutes of action thus far.
 
Shippensburg begins its conference schedule at 11 a.m. Saturday when it hosts Seton Hill from Robb Sports Complex.