MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - The Robert Morris women's lacrosse team cruised to an 18-9 win over Howard in Sunday's season opener with one of the top offensive performances in the program's eight-year history.

“It's great to get that first win under our belt and have some motivation pulling us the rest of the way through our nonconference schedule. It's something that will push our kids to get better every day,” Colonials head coach Katy Phillips said. “It was a quality win – I think we came out and played hard. There are a lot of things we need to work on, but overall it was nice to get that first win under our belt early.”

In a rematch of Robert Morris' inaugural game in 2005, the Colonials (1-0 overall, 0-0 NEC) set top 10 records in offensive production. RMU built an 11-4 lead heading into halftime before ending the day with 18 goals – tying for eighth all-time in Robert Morris single-game records. The Colonials also tied for ninth in the record book with 28 total points in the win while the team's 44 shots were the sixth most ever in an RMU contest.

Sophomore midfielder Talia Waskowicz (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) paced the Colonials with a seven point afternoon including six goals – tying the sophomore for second in RMU's single-game goal records behind Alana Beck's seven goal performance in 2010. Waskowicz also tallied a game-high 11 shots in the win – again tying for second in the Colonial record books.

In all, 10 Colonials recorded points in Sunday's season opener including six players with multi-point games. Freshman Emma Baukhages (Gambrills, Md. / Indian Creek) notched the first five goals of her career with the program including the eventual game winner. Senior Courtney Sicinski (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West) set up the deciding goal and ended the day with two goals and two assists.

Senior Colleen O'Donnell (Portland, Ore. / St. Mary's Academy) caused a game-high three turnovers to go along with her three offensive points (one goal, two assists) while sophomore Lauren Roberts (Baldwinsville, N. Y. / C.W. Baker) and junior Rachel Engel (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Upper St. Clair) each contributed a goal and an assist in the win. Sophomore MacKenzie Lawler (Okemos, Mich. / Okemos) and freshman Jessica Rutherford (Pylesville, Md. / North Harford) rounded out the Colonials offensive production with a goal each.

Sophomore Kaitlin Pentz (Sykesville, Md. / Century) picked up her first win of the year, making four saves before junior Angelina Gasparo (Philadelphia, Pa. / Nazareth Academy) took over at half and made a pair of saves. Howard (0-1, 0-0 NLC) was led by a four-goal performance from Courtland Lackey while Cynithia Smalls contributed three goals for the Bison.

Robert Morris returns to action next Friday at Ohio State.

-RMU-