Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team lost its fourth straight game Friday afternoon with a 10-9 defeat to Canisius in a non-conference game at Joe Walton Stadium. The 10-9 score marks the second straight one-goal loss for the Colonials as they fall to 1-4 on the season.
Sophomore Missy Sunseri (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) captained the offense with two goals and three assists for a season-high five points. Juniors Emily Tomlinson (Springfield, Va. / West Springfield) and Ashley Levering (Glenwood, Md. / Glenelg) combined for five goals with Tomlinson netting a hat-trick and Levering scoring two goals.
It was a back and forth race through the first half with the Colonials jumping out to a 4-3 leads thanks to goals by Sunseri, Levering, Tomlinson and sophomore Ali Gibbons (Candia, N.H. / Manchester). Canisius rallied though with a three-goal run in the span of five minutes to take a 6-4 advantage nearing the midway point.
Tomlinson snapped the Golden Griffins streak with her second of the game at the 10:34 mark, but a late strike by the visitors nearing two minutes would push the advantage back to two heading into halftime.
Down, 7-5, coming out of the break, Robert Morris mounted a comeback with three straight goals. Sunseri netted her fourth point of the game at 28:37 followed by Tomlinson's third goal of the afternoon to tie the game at 7-7 with 24:53 to play. Levering gave the Colonials an 8-7 lead when she connected on an unassisted goal less than five minutes later.
After a pair of Canisius goals to take back the lead, 9-8, sophomore Alana Beck (Carle Place, N.Y. / Old Dominion) wiped the slate clean with her sixth goal of the season at 11:34. Senior Brittanny Smith (Owen Sound, Ontario / West Hill Secondary) earned the assist on the goal.
The Golden Griffins clinched the win in the final minutes of play when Carly Quinn converted the only successful free-position shot of the contest at 6:34.
Canisius outshot Robert Morris, 31-26, while holding the advantage in draw controls, 12-9, and ground balls, 30-24. Six of the Colonials' 24 ground balls came from senior Nicki Runfola (Cumming, Ga. / South Forsyth), who also caused five turnovers.
Sophomore Erica Webb (Arnold, Md. / Broadneck) stopped 10 shots in goal over the 60 minutes.
Robert Morris takes on Ohio State this Sunday, March 16 for a 1:00 p.m. showdown in Columbus, Ohio.
