Moon Township, Pa. – Senior goalkeeper Becky Schonecker made 13 saves to anchor the
Robert Morris University women's soccer team to a scoreless draw against Northeast Conference rival Saint Francis University Sunday afternoon at North Athletic Complex. The result moves the Colonials record to 4-10-3 and 2-2-2 in the NEC while the Red Flash are now 3-10-5 and 3-1-3 in league games.
Schoenecker came up with five of her saves in the first half, helping calm down a Colonials squad that got off to a slow start. Despite the constant pressure, RMU got perhaps its best scoring chance of the game in the sixth minute as
Katie Austin found
Madison Kozlowski with a diagonal through ball. Kozlowski's shot, however, was stonewalled by Red Flash keeper Romina Kunze, one of eight saves on the day for her.
Scoreless into halftime, RMU had a chance at taking the lead in the 49th minute, but a header by
Kristie Hamilton off of
Francesca Springer's cross was corralled by Kunze. Schoenecker then stepped up again, diving to her right to stop a shot from 25 yards by Siobhan Bross. Moments later, the RMU senior keeper tipped a free kick from 20 yards, sending it off the crossbar.
Schoenecker would make four more saves in overtime, two in each of the extra sessions, to maintain the clean sheet. It was the fourth shutout of the season and sixth of her career. Her effort was helped by an RMU defense -
Lauren Pietrowski,
Melissa Ercoli,
Kayla Kelley and
Maddison Duncan - that limited the Red Flash to chances from outside the penalty box.
The Colonials are still to clinging to playoff hopes with two games left on the schedule. Wins in both give the squad a chance to earn its first postseason berth. RMU travels to Sacred Heart for a 5:00 p.m. game next Friday, Oct. 31.
