Moon Township, Pa. - For the fifth consecutive season, the Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team will compete in the Northeast Conference postseason tournament, clinching a top four regular season finish in the league with a 21-5 victory over Sacred Heart.

The Colonials dominated nearly every statistical category as a team, outshooting the Pioneers 35-10 in total shots, 27-8 in shots on goal. Robert Morris held a 26-10 advantage on ground balls, a 19-7 ratio on draw controls and 12 caused turnovers to SHU's eight.

After allowing the first goal of the game, RMU rattled off seven consecutive goals to take a 7-1 advantage before the midway point of the first half. Melanie Gandy, Niki Grillon, Kerri Sayrafe, Clio Kerr and Shannon Lynch were the first five goal-scorers of the game, with Sayrafe and Lynch each scoring twice in the seven goal streak. Six of the seven goals in that stretch were assisted, with Lynch earning two assists, Sayrafe, Melanie and Mackenzie Gandy, and Sophia Eureka, each dishing a helper.

SHU scored back-to-back goals to cut RMU's advantage to 7-3, but the Pioneers would never come closer.

Dana Davis scored unassisted, before Lynch completed her hat trick, and Kerr added a player-up goal to give the Colonials a 10-3 lead at the halftime break.



Like in the beginning of the game, SHU struck first in the second half to make it a 10-4 game.

But the Colonials offense and defense put on a show the rest of the way, putting together a nine-goal streak, not allowing a Sacred Heart goal for 23:21 and mounting a 19-4 advantage. A Pioneers goal with 2:32 to play ended the RMU run of goals, only temporarily, as the Colonials added two more before the final horn to close out the 21-5 victory.

Grillon, a senior, scored twice in the second half, reaching nine goals on the season and recording her first career hat trick. Melanie Gandy picked up her second of the game in the second half. Mackenzie Gandy, Meghan Crouse and Rachel Ward each put in a pair to record two-goal games, while freshman Madison Griffin and Hannah Miller scored as well.

After putting up seven points in her last outing, Lynch posted six against Sacred Heart, taking over the team points, goals and assists leads with 37 points, 22 goals and 15 assists on the season. Sayrafe, Crouse and Mackenzie Gandy each finished with two goals and two assists. Sayrafe led the Colonials with six ground balls and added a caused turnover. Gandy grabbed a caused turnover as well.

Kerr dominated the draw for the third consecutive game, racking up nine draw control wins. Davis won five draws, picked up three ground balls to extend her school record to 180 for her career, and caused a turnover as well. Griffin picked up four ground balls and won two draws and Crouse won a pair of draw controls as well.

Not to be outdone by the offense, the Colonials defense shined, allowing five or fewer goals for the fourth time this season. Sophomore Madison Burke had a stellar game with four ground balls and four caused turnovers, leading the RMU defense. Kelly Colegrove put up a pair of caused turnovers and ground balls as well. Burke and Colegrove both rank in the top ten in the NEC in caused turnovers. Sophomore Katelyn Miller didn't face many challenges from the Pioneers shooters but did make three saves on SHU's eight shots on goal, improving her goals against average to 9.35 on the season, ranking third in the NEC and among the top 15 in the NCAA.

"I think that everyone is progressing, everyone is always improving, our practices are really competitive," said Burke. "You can hold people accountable and say, 'Hey, we've got to step it up, we want to win this weekend.'"

"We're more cohesive now than we've ever been," said Burke of the Colonials defensive corps. "I'm really excited heading towards the tournament."

"This is the win that we needed and I think we're getting some momentum going into our next game first, and then the tournament."

Robert Morris (8-8, 4-2 NEC) wraps the regular season on Sunday, celebrating the trio of Dana Davis, Niki Grillon and Taylor Lewand on Senior Day. The ceremony recognizing their Colonials careers will take place approximately twenty minutes prior to the opening draw, which is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

The Northeast Conference postseason tournament begins with the semifinals on Thursday, May 3, followed by the championship game on Saturday, May 5. Bryant University locked up at least a share of the regular season title with a win over Wagner on Friday. The Bulldogs will host the NEC Tournament in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

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