Women's Lacrosse | 2/15/2019 1:05:00 PM

KENT, Ohio -- The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team opens its 15th season of NCAA Division I competition Saturday with a day trip to fledgling Kent State, which will be hosting its first home game ever. This will be the first of 10 non-conference games for the Colonials, with five of those taking place on the road.

Coming off their third consecutive winning season in Northeast Conference play and their fifth straight trip to the NEC tournament, the Colonials return 12 players who competed in all 18 games last season, including record-setting junior goalie Katelyn Miller and a pair of All-NEC First Team players in senior attacker Shannon Lynch and junior defender Kelly Colegrove.

With an attack led by the 106-point senior trio of Lynch, Kerri Sayrafe and Sophia Eureka, plus a defensive squad that posted the 10th-best goals-against average in D-I last year, the 2019 edition of the team figures to be well-rounded.

COLONIAL WLAX PREVIEW
ROBERT MORRIS (0-0, 0-0 NEC)
at KENT STATE (0-1, 0-0 A-SUN)

Saturday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.
Dix Stadium, Kent, Ohio

LIVE VIDEO via BoxCast 
LIVE STATS via Sidearm

LAST TIME OUT
After entering the 2018 NEC tournament as the No. 3 seed, RMU fell to Wagner 13-9 in the semifinal round. Lynch and Melanie Gandy registered three points apiece, while Madison Griffin and Sayrafe each notched a pair of goals as the Colonials ended their season at 9-9 overall and 5-3 in league play.

HISTORY LESSON
The Colonials are 5-9 all-time in season openers, 2-4 when they take to the road to start. Last year's team dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to Bucknell to get things going, but its first road game brought success in the form of a 10-9 win at city rival Duquesne.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Kent State began its D-I journey with a respectable showing at Cincinnati on Sunday, falling 19-8 after trailing by two at halftime. Freshman midfielder Abby Jones netted the Golden Flashes' first hat trick and classmate Merrill Grace stopped 14 shots in goal. Head coach Brianne Tierney's squad consists of 24 freshmen and two sophomores.

THEY SAID IT
"We are really talented, and we're really talented throughout. We're solid. It's a lot of fun at practice." - Head coach Katrina Silva assessing the state of the team


  
"The important thing is to focus on us and what we have to bring to the field." - Lynch on the approach to Kent State



KNOW BOBBY MO
• RMU was picked to finish fourth in the NEC in the preseason coaches' poll, with Bryant (first), Wagner (second) and Mount St. Mary's (third) rounding out the top half of the projected standings.

• Goalie Miller has the best goals-against average in program history (10.07), and her 9.58 in 18 starts last year established a new single-season RMU standard.

• Four returning players started all 18 games last season, and all of them play defense: Juniors Shea McArdle, Madison Burke and Colegrove, plus sophomore Katie Martin.

• The nine-member junior class is the largest cohort on the team. This group has participated in 20 wins so far at RMU, the second-best two-season stretch in team history.

• The twin combo of Melanie and Mackenzie Gandy should be potent, with Melanie coming off a 24-goal, 41-point season and Mackenzie returning from injury after posting 29 goals and 56 points as a freshman.

• Cilo Kerr scored five times in 2018 with the Colonials on the man-up advantage. That total has been surpassed only once in program history, by Katie Breeze (eight) in 2016.

• Meghan Crouse has controlled 94 draws in her first two seasons at RMU, climbing to seventh on the program's career charts. She ranks fourth in team history with 2.76 draw controls per game.

• For more fun facts on the 15th season of RMU women's lacrosse, click here.

STERLING SILVA
Entering her second season in charge of the Colonials, Katrina Silva brings 12 years of Division I head coaching experience to the table. Before taking over the program in 2018, Silva served as an RMU assistant coach for five years and a volunteer assistant for one.

Previous to her time in Moon Township, Silva led the lacrosse programs at Virginia Tech (four years) and Colgate (seven), in addition to Division III Roanoke College. A goalie in her playing days, she was the 1993 Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year for Towson.

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

NEXT UP
The Colonials will host Canisius in their home opener Wednesday, Feb. 20. First draw at Joe Walton Stadium is set for 3 p.m. Attendance is free.