Brooklyn, N.Y. ? April 5, 2009 ? The Robert Morris University Colonials bounced back from their loss against the Sacred Heart Pioneers with a decisive 18-6 victory over the Long Island Blackbirds on Sunday afternoon at LIU field. Robert Morris led the Blackbirds for the entire game except for one minute at the beginning of the first-half when the score was knotted 1-1.

Eight Colonials tallied multiple points in the win with junior Alana Beck (Carle Place, N.Y. / Old Dominion) leading the way with a season high seven points, consisting of three goals and four assists. Senior Kara Blakeley (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine-Richland) and junior Ali Gibbons (Candia, N.H. / Manchester) also added a trio of goals in the win, while seniors Jillian Howley (East Northport / Northport), Emily Tomlinson (Springfield, Va. / West Springfield) and Jennifer Collins (Edgewater, Md. / South River) and freshman Courtney Sicinski (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West) each captured a pair of goals in the win. Sicinski also tallied two assists for a four point game and senior Ashley Levering (Glenwood, Md. / Glenelg) notched four points with one goal and three helpers.

Blakeley started things off for the Colonials with a goal at 3:21. Long Island responded quickly with a free-position goal by Christie Wienckowski less than a minute later to knot the score 1-1. This would mark the only tie score of the game and the closest the Blackbirds ever came to surpassing the Colonials.

With 24:52 left on the clock Levering found a pass from Tomlinson and shot the ball into the back of the Blackbird net to take the 2-1 lead. 36 seconds later Blakeley notched her second goal of the game on a free-position attempt, making it a two goal game.

The Blackbirds brought the score back within one when Annie Kalata got the ball past junior goalie Erica Webb (Arnold, Md. / Broadneck), but Robert Morris again responded with back-to-back goals. This pattern continued once more as Kalata scored her second goal of the game for the Blackbirds at 12:23, which was followed by two Colonial goals by Beck and Gibbons, bringing the score to 7-3.

Long Island was able to score once more in the first-half before the Colonials went on a six-goal scoring spree to nab a 13-4 advantage heading into the second-half.

The second-half did not see as much scoring as the first, but the Colonials still dominated offensive play. Long Island opened things up with a goal 17 seconds into the half, but within the next 13 minutes the Colonials tallied four unanswered goals to give them their largest lead of the game, 17-5.

Long Island scored once more at 13:46, which was followed by the final goal of the game by RMU's Gibbons at 16:07. Neither team was able to find the net again in the remaining 14 minutes of action giving the Colonials the Commanding 18-6 win.

RMU's Webb finished the game with nine saves, while the Blackbird duo of Jaqueline Simonian and Amber Meek combined for 10 stops. The Colonials went 3-for-8 on free-position attempts, while the Blackbirds went 2-for-8. .

The Robert Morris Colonials return to action on Thursday, April 9 at Joe Walton Stadium to take on Central Conn. State at 4:00 p.m.

--sidga02@rmu.edu--