KUTZTOWN, Pa. — The Golden Bears, faced with a third-straight contest against an undefeated powerhouse, were unable to climb out of a second half hole, dropping their match with Shippensburg 2-1on Tuesday night at University Field.

The Lady Raiders, who are atop the Western Division in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, improved their record to 7-0 and are ranked No. 1 nationally. The Golden Bears, ranked No. 4 nationally, saw their record fall to 5-2.

The feisty Kutztown offense managed to get 17 penalty corners throughout the game, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. If the Lady Raiders defense wasn't breaking up the insert pass, then a bad hop here or there was stopping KU from getting a clean shot off.

The Golden Bears fell behind when Jamie Doughty slapped a shot into the left corner of the cage with 13:34 remaining in the first half.

The second half was much of the back-and-forth seen in the first half, with the defenses stiffening and not allowing open looks on the cage.

The games intensity picked up after a timeout, as each teams fan faithful tried to one-up the other with cheering and chanting.

After Shippensburg took a two goal advantage on a goal by Laura Wylde the Golden Bear offense came alive.

Anne Waapu (Hastings, NEW ZEALAND/) (Hastings, NEW ZEALAND) zig-zagged through the defense and riffled a shot off the goalkeeper. Jenna Gregory (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) found herself at the right spot and knocked in the goal to cut into the lead with 3:59 remaining.

Following the KU goal, the Shippensburg defense tightened and did not allow the Golden Bears to get off any shots on goal for the remainder.

Goalkeeper Emily Falko (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua) (Catasauqua/Catasauqua) played solid in the cage for KU, making seven saves against the potent Lady Raiders.

The Golden Bears look to bounce back on Saturday when they play host to Mansfield University at 1 p.m. on University Field in a PSAC East contest.

--KU--