Box Score Spring City, Pa. - Featuring a very young lineup, the Robert Morris University field hockey team dropped its 2011 season opener Saturday afternoon, 5-0, to nationally-ranked Albany in a neutral-site game at The Training Center.
Eight of the 14 Colonials to appear in the game were freshmen making their RMU debuts, six of which were in the starting lineup for Robert Morris.
After Albany put in an early goal, Robert Morris held the Great Danes scoreless for more than 27 minutes before Albany was able to add to its advantage to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. The Great Danes tacked on three insurance goals within a 12-minute span of the second half to set the final margin. Robert Morris had a chance to get on the board in the final minutes when it had a penalty corner attempt, but it was to no avail.
Freshman netminder Erin McKenzie (Lismore, Australia / University of Queensland Tech) started in the cage for RMU and tallied a game-high three saves. Junior goalkeeper Paige Neat (Louisville, Ky. / Christian Academy) played the second half in net for the Colonials and posted two stops.
RMU was initially set to travel to Villanova for a Sunday afternoon affair after facing Albany, but that game was previously postponed due to the anticipated landfall of Hurricane Irene. The Colonials are next scheduled to be in action next weekend when they travel to Michigan for a pair of contests--Robert Morris will face St. Louis in a neutral-site game Saturday, Sept. 3, at 1:00 p.m. before meeting host Central Michigan Sunday, Sept. 4, at 1:00 p.m.
