Sophomores Jenn Collins (Edgewater, Md. / South River) and Kara Blakeley (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland) paced the offense for the Colonials, tallying four points each with Collins nailing three goals and an assist and Blakeley with two goals and two assists. A total of six different players recorded multi-point games.

There were no plans for a conservative game as the Colonials (4-5, 1-0 NEC) opened up their first conference match of the year on a 7-1 rout. Robert Morris built the lead up with goals from Junior Bethany Mahaffey (Edgewater, Md. / Annapolis Area Christian), Sophomore Jillian Howley (East Northport, N.Y. / Northport), Sophomore Emily Tomlinson (Springfield, Va. / West Springfield) and Jenn Collins in the first five minutes of the game. After a Sacred Heart goal from Alyssa Harris, the Colonials peppered the net with three more goals from Junior Brittanny Smith (Owen Sound, Ontario / West Hill Secondary), a second goal from Tomlinson and one by Kara Blakeley.

Sacred Heart started to climb into the thick of things, outscoring Robert Morris, 6-2, in the final 15 minutes of the half, cutting the lead to two. Blakeley and Collins each added a second goal to close out the half.

Carrying a 9-7 advantage into halftime, Robert Morris fell behind quickly as the Pioneers opened up the second frame with four unanswered goals to take an 11-9 lead. Sophomore Ashley Levering (Glenwood, Md. / Glenelg) broke up the Pioneers surge with her first of the game at 19:52 only to have Sacred Heart push the lead back to two with a Liz Ottey score at 13:59.

As time crept down to under eleven minutes the Colonials started to mount their comeback. Junior Josephine Zizic (Chicago, Ill. / Culver Academy) brought the Colonials within one at 10:22 followed by a tally by classmate Pam DeGuffroy (Irwin, Pa. / Norwin) to tie things up at 8:41.

Jenn Collins proved to be the difference maker as she added her third goal of the game at 8:20 to give Robert Morris the lead and eventually the game. For Collins, this was her second game-winning goal of the year in a come from behind effort for Robert Morris.

Levering gave the Colonials some insurance to work with at 7:27 with her second goal of the game.

Defense was a key ingredient to the rally as Robert Morris held Sacred Heart scoreless in the final 13 minutes of the game. Current NEC Defensive Player of the Week Sophomore Mary Kate Egan (Lynch, Md. / Kent) and Junior Meghan Wheeler (Jordan, N.Y. / Jordan-Elbridge) combined in the game for four caused turnovers with two a piece while Egan nabbed three draw controls and a ground ball as well.

Freshman Erica Webb (Arnold, Md. / Broadneck) shut the door on any Pioneer come back, making three of her eight saves in the final seven minutes of the game to preserve the victory.

Robert Morris fell behind in shots for the game, 27-26, but held the advantage in ground balls, 8-7, and draw controls, 17-11.

The Colonials return home to Joe Walton Stadium this weekend for their second NEC match-up of the season as they host Central Connecticut State on March 30. Game time is set for a 4:00 p.m. start.