Emmitsburg, Md. – An uncharacteristic scoring drought short-circuited the Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team on Sunday afternoon, as the Colonials fell 13-10 to Mount St. Mary's in a Northeast Conference showdown at Waldron Family Stadium.

After taking a 4-1 lead less than six minutes into the game, RMU went 35 minutes without netting another goal. The Colonials (8-4, 1-2 NEC) actually outscored the Mountaineers 6-3 in the second half, but they nonetheless suffered their second loss in three days, both on the road.

"When you start too late, it takes too much time to put the goals on the board," said head coach Katy Phillips. "Being disciplined in your game plan is how you're going to win. When you get away from that, it's tough to work as a unit because some people are on the same page and some people aren't."

Robert Morris trailed 10-4 before Corey Karwacki converted her first of two goals with 18:58 remaining to break the shooting slump. The Colonials went on to score four straight to cut the Mount St. Mary's lead to 11-9 with 1:43 on the clock, but Nicole Lantuh's fifth goal of the game sealed the upset win for the Mountaineers (3-9, 2-1 NEC).

Senior Kristin Yoviene and junior Brittany Byerly scored three goals each, while Corey Karwacki chipped in four points on two goals and two assists. Freshman midfielder Dana Davis had another two-way game, scoring a goal and adding four ground balls to go with three caused turnovers.

But despite some strong individual stat lines, the Colonials were unable to put it all together consistently.

"Maybe it's because we're on the road, but in the past two games we've come out a little hesitant," said senior defender Kristi Marks. "In conference you've got to play both halves. Tough loss, but we'll bounce back."

The result was difficult to accept not only because it made for an 0-for-2 road trip - the Colonials fell at Wagner on Friday - but also because RMU scored on just 10 of its 29 total shots. Mount St. Mary's goalie Steph Rurkowski made 13 saves, many of them on excellent scoring chances.

"We weren't finishing shots," Phillips said. "We went up 4-1 and we thought we had it in the bag. We stopped executing our plan and they came back on us. It's conference play and every team is coming out there to win a game."

The Colonials seemed poised to seize control early, as Yoviene scored twice in the opening six minutes to boost the visitors to a three-goal lead. But the home team fended off that wave with five consecutive goals over a six-minute span to snag a 6-4 advantage midway through the half.

Following a Robert Morris timeout and a goalie change - freshman Mackenzie Duffy replaced sophomore Hallie Yancey - the Mount cashed in a man-up tally to make it a three-goal margin. The Colonials got back on the attack in the final 10 minutes of the half, but couldn't put a handful of point-blank shots past Rurkowski.

Meanwhile, Mount St. Mary's made it nine consecutive goals with a quick three-spot; it was a 10-4 RMU deficit at intermission.

"(The Mountaineers) got their feet underneath them and we stopped talking (on defense) for a little bit," Marks said. "They were shooting and they couldn't miss. Some of that was on us not locking off in the back."

The Colonials turned up the ride pressure to start the second half, but were unable to generate any significant attack time until Marks set up Yoviene for a great chance off the fast break nine minutes in. Rurkowski stopped Yoviene's high shot, keeping RMU down six.

But a minute later, the Colonials finally broke through. Haley Schemm caused a Mount turnover, Marks picked it up and Karwacki finished with a bouncing shot that beat Rurkowski. Although Lantuh responded with a goal from the side of the net to raise the Mountaineers' edge to 11-5, it was clear the field was beginning to tilt in RMU's favor.

"If we weren't careful, they were just going to sit on the ball," Phillips said. "We went into some higher pressure and I think we wore them out. It got us some turnovers that really helped jump-start our offense."

Byerly sneaked in a goal with Rurkowski out of her net with 14:09 left, then Karwacki fired a lunging strike a minute later. Byerly added a free-position goal with 10 minutes to play, with a starkly pro-RMU crowd cheering on the visitors. The Colonials' feature 12 Maryland natives on the roster, hence the impressive road support.

"They did a good job hanging onto the ball, but once we got it back, we were scoring," said Marks, who had two ground balls and a caused turnover. "In the second half we were hustling and working hard. When this team plays that way for a full game, we'll win."

With five minutes to go, Emily Jamison made up for an earlier miss by snapping a quick shot off Emma Baukhages' assist, boosting the Colonials within 11-9. Yoviene made it 12-10 with a similar finish of a sharp Karwacki feed, but the Mount controlled the ensuing draw and killed the rest of the clock.

"We stepped up in the second half and starting running the offensive and defensive sets we wanted to," said sophomore midfielder Megan Gold. "We lacked that in the first half. We came out slow. We need to be ready to play…that was our weakness at Wagner, too."

The Colonials have four days to regroup before opening a two-game home weekend against Bryant on Friday afternoon. With a record of 1-2 in the NEC, RMU still has time to turn it around and qualify for the four-team league tournament in early May.

"We've got to buckle down," Phillips said. "We've got to have way more discipline as a team. We have to not only be physically prepared, but also mentally prepared. Everybody is fighting for one of those four tournament spots."

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