Staten Island, N.Y. - The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team took on continued its road trip in the state of New York with a rare Saturday contest against Wagner. Allowing just two goals in the second half, the Colonials came away with a 12-7 victory behind five goals from Kristin Yoviene and seven saves from Kaitlin Pentz.
Wagner would pick up the first goal of the game before Kristin Yoviene (Easton, Md. / Saints Peter and Paul) answered just 31 seconds later to make the score 1-1. The two teams would again trade goals as Wagner took a 2-1 lead before Yoviene netted her second goal of the game with nineteen minutes remaining in the first half.
The Seahawks would score the next two goals to take a 4-2 lead before Robert Morris responded with four consecutive goals. Emily Jamison (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills) would bring the Colonials within a goal, 4-3, before fellow freshman Brittany Byerly (Wexford, Pa. / Pine-Richland) tied the game with less than fifteen minutes remaining in the half. The burst of offense would continue as Emily VanDyne (Webster, N.Y. / Webster Thomas) game the Colonials their first lead of the game with the score 5-4. Yoviene would complete the hat trick with twelve minutes remaining in the first as Robert Morris held a 6-4 advantage.
Nine minutes of play would elapse before either team scored again as Wagner put an end to the Robert Morris run with its fifth goal of the game and come within a goal of the Colonials, 6-5. The final goal of the first half came from Byerly as she regained the two-goal lead for RMU, 7-5, after thirty minutes of play.
The Colonials would open the second half of play with three goals to further increase their lead. The first of the three goals came from Yoviene as she picked up her fourth goal of the game. After VanDyne scored her second goal of the contest, Yoviene would make the score 10-5 as she scored her fifth goal of the afternoon.
Wagner would try to battle back as the Seahawks netted the next two goals to make the score 10-7 with five minutes remaining. Those would be the only goals allowed by Kaitlin Pentz (Sykesville, Md. / Century) as she made four saves in the half while the offense accounted for the final two goals of the contest. Both Byerly and VanDyne would record hat tricks as each of them picked up their third goal to make the final score 12-7.
The Colonials held a decisive advantage in draw controls as they gained the advantage in seventeen of the twenty draws. Jessica Karwacki (Sparks, Md. / Hereford) individually won eleven draw controls for RMU. Along with her three goals, VanDyne also picked up two assists to have a five-point effort in the victory. Pentz made seven saves while picking up her sixth win of the season that helped the Colonials improve to 2-2 against conference opponents.
Robert Morris will return home for its final two home games of the 2013 season next weekend. The Colonials will take on Monmouth on Friday at 1:00 p.m. before holding their senior day festivities on Sunday when they face Mount St. Mary's.
