Lewiston, N.Y. - Junior midfielder Jessica Karwacki established a new NCAA Division I record for draw controls in a career, collecting 20 on Friday afternoon as the Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team pulled off a 12-10 victory at Niagara.

Karwacki surpassed former Northwestern star Alyssa Leonard with her massive performance, which raised her career total to 470. The native of Sparks, Md., set the D-I single-season record last year with 216, and she has added 82 more this season to help the Colonials to a 5-2 start.

Freshman Dana Davis - already a three-time winner of the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week this season - scored a season-high four goals in the victory. Brittany Byerly, Emma Baukhages and RMU leading scorer Kristin Yoviene added two goals apiece to pace the Colonials, who rebounded from a tough loss at Oregon to get back on the winning track.

"I think the key for us today was to come out strong, confident and get back to playing our game," said senior defender and co-captain Kristi Marks, who picked up a team-best four ground balls. "We've struggled a bit with that in the past few weeks, but when we play our game and follow our game plan we win games."

RMU sprinted to a 7-2 lead, with senior attack Baukhages scoring the first two off assists from Corey Karwacki. Davis had an early pair as well, as the Colonials put some space between them and the Purple Eagles.

"Our goal every game is to get a quick start," Baukhages said. "As coach (Katy Phillips) says, we want to 'show our RMU brand,' I happened to be in the right place at the right time and took advantage of the opportunity."

However, it wouldn't be easy at Niagara Field, as the home team stormed back with four straight goals to send the game to halftime with a 7-6 margin. Byerly and Davis scored back-to-back to start the second half, but Niagara (3-5) stayed on RMU's tail for the duration, with Carrie-Jo Farrugia's five-goal performance providing a catalyst.

The Colonials stuck with it, as Yoviene, Davis and sophomore Katie Breeze answering Niagara goals with tallies of their own. Breeze's goal came with 2:44 on the clock, teaming up with a key late save from goalie Hallie Yancey to finally put the Purple Eagles away.

"I think what really held (Niagara) off was that we never gave up and continued to hustle when it really counted," Baukhages said. "We also had some really energizing moments that pumped us up, like Hallie's save at the end of the game."

Freshman Mackenzie Duffy got the start in goal for RMU, making two saves before the sophomore Yancey took over for the final 16 minutes. Sophomore defender Megan Wolfgang forced two of the six Niagara turnovers that the Colonials caused. 

RMU led in shots 30-19, a margin aided greatly by a 22-2 advantage in draw controls, more evidence of the impact Jessica Karwacki can have on a given game.

The Colonials will conclude their two-game New York road trip with a matchup against St. Bonaventure at noon Sunday.

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