Buffalo, N.Y. ? March 8, 2009 ? In a hard fought contest the Robert Morris University Colonials fell to the Canisius Griffs, 13-11, on Sunday afternoon at the Demske Sports Complex. The loss moves the Colonials to 1-3, but in every single RMU defeat they have only been beaten by at most two goals. With the win the Griffs improve their record to 3-3.
For the Colonials, two players led the pack, with senior Jillian Howley (East Northport, N.Y. / Northport) and freshman Courtney Sicinski (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West) each adding a trio of goals. For the third consecutive game, senior Ashley Levering (Glenwood, Md. / Glenelg) led the squad in assists, this time dishing out four. Freshman Colleen O'Donnell (Portland, Ore. / St. Mary's Academy), junior Alana Beck (Carle Place, N.Y. / Old Dominion) and senior Emily Tomlinson (Springfield, Va. / West Springfield) each contributed one goal and one assist in the contest.
The Griffs were led by Chelsea Martinez and Ashley Curtis who registered, five and four goals, respectively. Brianne Laffey added three assists and one goal in the win, while Ashley Gray dished out two helpers and added a goal for three points.
Robert Morris got the first mark on the board three minutes into the game, when Levering found Beck waiting at the net to make the score. During the next 10 minutes of the game Canisius recorded four unanswered goals, with two being made by Martinez to take the 4-1 lead.
With 17:29 left on the clock O'Donnell found the net for her second collegiate goal, but two minutes later the Griffs responded to take back their three goal lead.
At 16:55 RMU traded goals with Canisius again when Collins grabbed a pass from Levering and got the ball past Griff goalie Allison Daley to cut into their lead, 5-3.
By the end of the first-half, Canisius added four more goals to their collection, while Robert Morris notched three to set the score at 9-6 going into the second half.
The Colonial defense came out strong in the second half, but the Griffs would never let the Colonials get ahead for the remainder of the contest. Robert Morris again got the first strike of action when Sicinski scored her second goal of the game just 16 seconds into second half and 30 seconds later Tomlinson also netted a goal to move the scored to 9-8.
During the next 14 minutes the Griffs added two more goals, while RMU scored once to bring the score to 11-9. Robert Morris had their hopes raised with 3:34 left on the clock when Howley scored back-to-back goals to knot the score at 11-11.
However, the Griffs were able to connect twice before the end of regulation to earn the 13-11 win.
Junior goalie Erica Webb (Arnold, Md. / Broadneck) recorded a season-high 14 saves in the contest, while Daley registered only seven saves. Canisius capitalized on three-of-seven free-position shots, while RMU was two-of-three.
The Colonials head west to California this week to take on St. Mary's in Moraga, Calif. on Thursday, March 12 at 3:30 p.m. and UC Davis in Davis, Calif. on Saturday, March 14 at 1:00 p.m.
