EDINBORO, Pa. (March 14, 2016) - The Edinboro University women's lacrosse team looks to make unprecedented strides on Tuesday when they open their PSAC season at Slippery Rock at 5:00 p.m. Not only will they seek their first 5-0 start in school history, they will look for their first ever win against The Rock, who have won every match against Edinboro since the latter's inception to women's lacrosse in 2009. Slippery Rock also begins its PSAC season Tuesday and owns a 2-1 record.

This marks the second straight year that the Fighting Scots have opened the season at 4-0 and first time under new head coach Caitlin Formato. Edinboro started out 4-0 in 2015 under former head coach Kevin Cooke, before falling to second-ranked Lock Haven, 19-5, in its PSAC season opener. The Scots finished with a 6-9 overall record and a 3-9 conference mark.

The Rock is 7-0 in the all-time series against the Fighting Scots, with their largest margin of victory coming last season with a 19-6 decision at Sox Harrison Stadium. The closest contest between the two teams came when SRU posted a 9-7 win in 2014. Edinboro held a 4-2 first-half lead before Slippery Rock responded with five unanswered goals to take a 7-4 lead with 24:54 left in the match. Edinboro rallied to close to within one goal of the lead at 8-7 with 10:40 remaining, but SRU staved off the threat with another goal for the victory. SRU finished 2015 with a 9-8 overall record and a 7-5 mark in the PSAC. They just missed out on the PSAC Tournament, losing the tiebreaker to Bloomsburg (who also finished 7-5 in the conference and defeated The Rock, 19-12, earlier in the year) for the sixth and final seed.

Edinboro comes to Slippery Rock after completing a four-match southern road trip with victories against Alderson Broaddus, West Virginia Wesleyan, Chowan and Shepherd by a combined score of 67-17. Senior attackers Anna Purdy (14 goals, 10 assists) and Rebecca Martin (seven goals, 17 assists) are the team's leading scorers at 24 points apiece and are tied for first with West Chester's Ashley Pyle in the PSAC in scoring at 6.0 points per game. Purdy has recorded a hat trick in every match so far this year. Junior midfielder Cydney Hrycko leads Edinboro in goals with 15. She recorded a team-high six goals in the Boro's 18-3 win over West Virginia Wesleyan, scoring five in the first half. That performance, coupled with her four-goal, one-assist showing at Alderson Broaddus, earned Hrycko PSAC Women's Lacrosse Athlete of the Week honors for the week of February 29.

Sophomore goalkeeper Paige Skinner has all-but-dominated in net this season for the Scots. She recorded 17 saves in Edinboro's 11-2 win at Shepherd on Sunday, which is tied for second all-time in one match in school history. The Jamesville, N.Y. native is 3-0 on the year with a 4.09 goals against average and a 72.7 save percentage.

Slippery Rock began its season with a three-match trip in Florida, taking victories against Shorter (23-10) and Young Harris (18-10) before falling to sixth-ranked Rollins, 17-6, on Friday. Senior midfielder Erin Wilcox leads The Rock in scoring with 11 points on nine goals and two assists, while fellow senior midfielder Kaytlin Callaghan is second with 10 points on eight goals and two assists. Senior goalie Jordan Wagner owns a 12.40 goals against average and a 43.6 save percentage.