Women's Soccer | 10/23/2019 7:29:00 PM

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Robert Morris University women's soccer team faces a must-win situation this weekend as they play their final two road matches of their Northeast Conference schedule. Nine points out of the fourth and final tournament spot, they must beat both Central Connecticut and Merrimack to give themselves a chance.

ROBERT MORRIS (4-9-2, 2-4-1 NEC)
at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT (7-4-4, 5-1-1 NEC)
Friday, Oct. 25 at 12 p.m.
CCSU Soccer Field, New Britain, Conn.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

at MERRIMACK (3-11-0, 1-6-0 NEC)
Sunday, Oct. 27 at 11 a.m.
Martone-Mejail Field, North Andover, Mass.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

CATCHING UP
The Colonials rallied back at Saint Francis U. to force a 1-1 second-half tie last Friday, but the Red Flash pushed back to earn the 2-1 decision in Loretto, Pa. Junior midfielder Brittany O'Connell, a Norwin High School graduate, buried a 25-yard free kick for her second goal of the season and third of her career, although it wasn't enough to get a road result. Junior keeper Sydney Bruckner stopped 11 shots, tying a season high, in the tight defeat.

Now sitting in a three-way tie for seventh place in the 11-team NEC, the Colonials must win their final three matches to stay alive for a postseason berth. 

HISTORY LESSON
The Colonials are on a six-match winless streak against Central Connecticut, and have been blanked by the Blue Devils in four straight. Last year's match went down to the wire, though, as Charlotte Maurer's penalty kick provided the only offense in a 1-0 RMU home loss. Bruckner denied eight shots on frame to keep the Colonials in it.

RMU has never faced Division I newcomer Merrimack, formerly a member of the D-II Northeast-10 conference.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Central Connecticut enters the weekend on a serious roll, having won four in a row against NEC foes by a combined score of 15-0. The Blue Devils' only loss in league play was to Fairleigh Dickinson, 1-0 in extra time. The defending NEC champs are led in scoring by sophomore midfielder Roma McLaughlin, who has nine goals and two assists for 20 points. Senior forward Allyson O'Rourke has five goals and three helpers.

Merrimack has won just once in its maiden voyage in the NEC, a 1-0 edging of St. Francis Brooklyn. Otherwise, the Warriors have struggled in league play, including consecutive shutout losses to Long Island and Central Connecticut by a combined score of 9-0. Freshman striker Molly Murnane has had a strong debut, though, putting up a pair of goals and two assists. Senior Erin Fulton has started 12 times in goal.

KNOW BOBBY MO
• A native of Mechanicsburg, Pa., Bruckner has been a workhorse in goal to this point, seeing action in all 15 matches and starting 13 of those. Her eighth RMU shutout, recorded Oct. 13 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson, pushed her into solo fourth on the program's all-time list, while her .835 save percentage is on pace to be the fourth-best single-season mark in team history.

• Bruckner's performance has had a large influence on the Colonials' overall defensive success. The team has a collective 1.21 goals-against average, which is on pace to be the best such mark in program history, which dates back to 1992. The 2014 squad holds the current record, at 1.24, while the 2007 team recorded a 1.26.

• On a team with eight newcomers, it's fitting that two freshmen lead the way in terms of scoring. First-year forwards Reid (four goals) and Kayla Veloso-Lima (three) are two of four Colonials with multiple goals, while Veloso-Lima is the only one with multiple assists (two). The last time RMU had this many goals contributed by freshmen was in 2008 (eight).

• Reid and Veloso-Lima have opportunities to write their names in the RMU record books. The last time a Colonials freshman led the team in scoring was in 2008, when Norwin's Jess Sharik pulled it off. Also, the most goals scored by a Colonials freshman is 10, by Kathleen Caggiano in 2007, while Ayana Davis '12 and Katie Dugan '02 had nine and eight goals, respectively, in their first seasons on campus. 

• With two goals netted this season, senior midfielder Kristina Kelley continues her climb up the program's all-time scoring chart. The senior from Halifax, Pa., has 13 career strikes in an RMU uniform, moving her one past Kelly Haggard '96 and Hilary Nellis '06 for the eighth-most in team history. Two more goals this season would put Kelley in RMU's all-time top five.

• The Colonials return two All-NEC players in Kelley (Second Team) and Chartiers Valley's Allie Ball (All-Rookie); they're the top two Colonials in minutes played. WPIAL products Brittany O'Connell (Norwin) and Courtney Hurey (West Allegheny) also have started all 15 games, too. Seniors Nicolette Casarcia (Plum, pictured above) and Megan DiNatale (above) have played in 14 and 13 games, respectively.

• Of the Colonials' 13 underclassmen, five have played in all 14 games so far: Angela Van Damia, Colleen Sullivan, Chelsea Kingston, Hurey and Ball. Three more have seen action in at least 13 matches: Sofie Lien Fagereng, Devan Noll and Bailey Farabaugh. 

• The Colonials added one of their own to the coaching staff this season, with Alexa Sarsfield '15 joining the team as an assistant. A former All-NEC defender, the native of Springdale, Pa., started 62 of her 71 total matches for RMU from 2010-13. She coached at the youth level with QuickSkillz Soccer from 2016-19.

HONOR ROLL
The following Colonials have been honored by the NEC this season ...
Sheridan Reid - Rookie of the Week (Aug. 26, Oct. 8), Prime Performer (Sept. 4)
Sydney Bruckner - Prime Performer (Aug. 26, Sept. 17, Sept. 25)
Kayla Veloso-Lima - Prime Performer (Sept. 17)
Devan Noll - Prime Performer (Oct. 8)

THE KOWALSKI FILE
A 2000 inductee into the RMU Athletic Hall of Fame, coach John Kowalski returns for his 18th season. The native of Miłków, Poland, led the RMU men's soccer team to four NEC regular-season championships and two NEC Tournament titles before taking over the women in 2002. In 2015, he led the women's team to its lone NEC tourney appearance to date, for which he was named league Coach of the Year.

Kowalski has just about done it all in his coaching career, from managing the U.S. Men's National Team in 1991 and our nation's international futsal (five-a-side) squads for 10 years, to heading up the Tampa Bay Mutiny of Major League Soccer and the second-tier Pittsburgh Riverhounds upon their 1999 debut. Kowalski was inducted into the Riverhounds' inaugural hall of fame class this summer, his fifth such induction.

MARCH WITH THE COLONIALS
In addition to reports and videos on RMUColonials.com, check out Twitter and Instagram for news and updates throughout the season.

NEXT WEEK
The Colonials will wrap their 28th D-I season with Senior Day against St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday, Nov. 1. Kickoff at the North Athletic Complex is set for 12:30 p.m.