Smithfield, R.I. - Robert Morris University women's lacrosse saw its 2018 season comes to a close with a 13-9 loss to Wagner College on Thursday in the Northeast Conference tournament semifinals.
The Colonials opened the scoring with a goal by first team all-NEC selection
Shannon Lynch, her team-leading 24th of the year. Wagner followed with three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead, before RMU answered with a three-goal burst of its own. Junior
Sophia Eureka scored her 23rd goal of the season to pull RMU back within one. Freshman
Madison Griffin tied the game at 3-3 with her 10th goal of the season. Sophomore
Meghan Crouse put the Colonials ahead 4-3 with her 17th of the year with 14:04 to play.
Wagner scored to tie the game 4-4 before Griffin picked up her second goal of the game and 11th of the season to give the Colonials a 5-4 advantage. But that was the last time RMU would hold the lead. The Seahawks scored three consecutive goals to take a 7-5 lead. Junior
Kerri Sayrafe scored off a pass from Lynch to make it a 7-6 game at the half.
Wagner scored first in the second half before sophomore
Melanie Gandy jumped on the board with her 23rd of the year, pulling RMU within one again, 8-7. Wagner's Heidi Colford scored two of the next three goals to give the Seahawks an 11-7 advantage. Gandy found Sayrafe with 12:06 remaining to make it 11-8, Sayrafe's 19th of the season.
Colford again pushed the Wagner lead to four before Gandy struck with a player-down goal to put RMU back within three once again, trailing 12-9 with 5:12 remaining in the game. Wagner maintained possession through much of the closing five minutes and added one more tally to seal the victory for the Seahawks, 13-9.
Lynch and Gandy led RMU in scoring with three points each, as they finish first and second in scoring for the Colonials. Lynch posted a goal and two assists to finish with 49 points (24 G, 25 A) and Gandy two goals and an assist for 41 points (24 G, 17 A). Griffin and Sayrafe each also finished with two goals apiece.
Crouse dominated the draw with 8 draw controls, while senior
Dana Davis pulled in five. Crouse also led RMU with four ground balls and was one of four Colonials with a pair of caused turnovers. Davis also had a pair of caused turnovers, as did Eureka and first team all-NEC defender
Kelly Colegrove, who also picked up a pair of ground balls, as did defender
Shea McArdle. Sophomore
Katelyn Miller made 12 saves in the loss but finished the year tied for third most wins in a single-season in RMU history, with the best single-season goals against average for the Colonials.
Robert Morris wraps the 2018 campaign with a 9-9 overall record, the sixth consecutive season with a record of .500 or better. The Colonials' trio of 2018 seniors -- Davis,
Niki Grillon and
Taylor Lewand -- graduate with a 39-31 overall record. Davis ends her stellar Colonials career all across the record books, recording one final program record in her final performance, starting and playing in her 68th career game, the most by any student-athlete in the women's lacrosse program history.
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