Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team earned the good start it was seeking in Northeast Conference play, as it churned out a 17-9 triumph over Saint Francis on Friday afternoon to improve to 4-0 at Joe Walton Stadium.

RMU leading scorer Kristin Yoviene tied a season high with four goals, Brittany Byerly had three and 11 Colonials earned at least a point in the team's fourth consecutive win. Corey Karwacki turned in another well-rounded effort with two goals and a team-best three assists, giving the junior midfielder her sixth game of at least five points this season.

Unlike Sunday's 21-16 home win over Campbell, the Colonials (8-2, 1-0 NEC) didn't let their opponent hang around. After RMU took a 7-2 lead on Emily Jamison's second goal with 9:19 left until intermission, Saint Francis (3-7, 0-1 NEC) was never able to cut its deficit to fewer than five. 

"We're proud of our first win in conference," said the senior Yoviene, who now has 47 points (27g, 20a) on the season. "Today we were focusing on keeping our momentum. We do really well when we start fast and stay strong, so when we got up by a few goals it was really exciting."

On a rainy, humid day, the Colonials' defending was as thick as the early-spring air. RMU caused 13 turnovers in all and stymied 10 of the Red Flash's 23 clear attempts, continuing a season-long trend. Opponents have converted just 65 percent of their clears against Robert Morris this year.

"Our defense played really well," said senior defender Haley Schemm, who paced RMU with three caused turnovers. "Our intensity was a lot better, too. We're working on all of the fundamentals. Just knowing how to handle the pressure coming out of the back and moving it up to our attack."

Sophomore Megan Wolfgang chipped in with a pair of caused turnovers herself, both of which were athletic mid-air interceptions.

"That comes out of the other six people setting her up so (Wolfgang) can do that," said RMU head coach Katy Phillips. "With (senior defender Kristi Marks) and Haley quarterbacking back there and applying the right type of pressure, Megan is able to judge and pick that ball off. Those are awesome turnovers, because the ball is going fast in the other direction."

Armed with all those turnovers and 21 more draw controls from junior midfielder Jessica Karwacki - who returned from injury in fine form - the Colonials dominated possession, as evidenced by their 37-18 advantage in shots. Once they had the ball, they made an effort to engage all aspects of their attack, which Phillips called "well-rounded."

"We've been looking to push the pace and get in our offensive sets," Yoviene said. "We did well with that today...we're feeling confident. Obviously it's much easier to play when you're working together, so as long as we continue that, we're going to be successful."

With Jamison and both Karwacki twins cashing in a pair of goals apiece, it was another impressive output for the nation's highest-scoring team (16.5 goals per game). RMU also demonstrated its depth, as 13 substitutes saw action at various points in the game. 

"Our goal as a coaching staff was to manage our roster," Phillips said. "In order for us to go deep and win a championship, I think we have to provide relief for the starters and have players who can come off the bench and provide good, quality minutes. I think we did a really good job of that in the first half, especially."

Freshman goalie Mackenzie Duffy was one of the substitutes, as she took over for sophomore Hallie Yancey at halftime and nabbed her fifth NCAA victory while making four saves. Fellow first-year Colonials Niki Grillon, Kendall Noel and Dana Davis netted a goal each.

If there's one area of concern from Friday, it was RMU's out-of-character 3-for-13 performance on free-position shots. Saint Francis finished with 37 fouls, so the opportunities were there for the Colonials to create more separation on the scoreboard.

"We got a little frazzled," Phillips said. "When you get hard fouls you have to take a moment to refocus. That's something we'll talk about this week. 

"Part of what you're doing in those (offensive) sets is to get on that 8-meter (line). Those are goals that we need to get 60 or 70 percent of."

The Colonials will be tested next weekend when they travel to Wagner (Friday) and Mount St. Mary's (Sunday) for their first NEC road games of the spring. The Wagner game carries extra signficance because the Seahawks knocked RMU out of championship contention last year in the league semifinals.

"Obviously that's a game we're excited about," Yoviene said.

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