Loretto, Pa. ? Freshman Courtney Borsody (Germantown, Md. / Seneca Valley) and Junior Meredith Milsak (Brighton, Mich. / Brighton) each tallied three goals and an assist to help lead the Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team to a 17-4 victory over in-state rival Saint Francis (Pa.) this evening in Loretto, Pa.
Offensively, 11 different Colonials picked up goals in the game including Sophomore Jillian Howley (East Northport, N.Y. / Northport) who registered two goals and an assist while Sophomore Jenn Collins (Edgewater, Md. / South River) scored two goals to extend her season total to 31 on the year. Junior Josephine Zizic (Chicago, Ill. / Culver Academy) put away a goal and two assists.
Junior Bethany Mahaffey (Edgewater, Md. / Annapolis Area Christian), Sophomore Emily Tomlinson (Springfield, Va. / West Springfield) and Sophomore Ashley Levering (Glenwood, Md. / Glenelg) scored a goal and an assist while Junior Brittanny Smith (Owen Sound, Ont. / West Hill Secondary), Sophomore Kara Blakeley (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland) and Freshman Alexis Liberatore (Marriotsville, Md. / Liberty) picked up goals in the game. For Liberatore, the goal scored marked her first collegiate point as a Colonial.
After dropping their last three NEC contests, the Robert Morris women's lacrosse team rebounded with a vengeance in hopes of punching their ticket to the Northeast Conference tournament in a few weeks. The Colonials opened up the game on a 12-2 scoring frenzy in the first half. After taking a 2-1 lead in the game's opening four minutes on scores by Howley and Blakeley, RMU went on a ten-goal run over a 19 minute span taking the teams into halftime. Smith, Mahaffey, Collins, Borsody, Milsak and Zizic each contributed tallies in the biggest goal production of the year.
In the second half Robert Morris milked the clock as they peppered the net with five additional goals. Milsak and Borsody each added a third tally for hat-tricks while Collins, Levering and Liberatore wrapped up the rest. Saint Francis put away two scores but the first half deficit proved to be too much to overcome as RMU moved back to .500 in NEC play.
Robert Morris out-shot Saint Francis (Pa.), 47-14, for the game while controlling the ground balls, 27-13, and draw controls, 16-7.
Freshman Ali Harris (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shady Side Academy) shined in her first collegiate start at defense leading Robert Morris with a team-best and season-high seven ground balls as well as adding three draw controls and two caused turnovers.
Freshman Erica Webb (Arnold, Md. / Broadneck), Freshman Ashley Walsh (Fairfax Station, Va. / Lake Braddock) and Junior Lauren Hartsfield (Cumming, Ga. / South Forsyth) all shared time in net. Webb, who picked up her fifth victory of the season with the win, played the first half making three saves. Walsh and Hartsfield split up the second half with the freshman playing 24:53 with two saves and the veteran wrapping up the game's final 5:07.
With two games left on the schedule, Robert Morris looks to lock up a spot in the NEC postseason as the team hosts Mount St. Mary's this upcoming Friday, April 20, at Joe Walton Stadium in a Northeast Conference match-up. Game time is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start.
