MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Junior Mackenzie Gandy scored her fifth goal of the game on the first possession of overtime, capping a three-goal rally for the Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team in a dramatic 13-12 victory over visiting Radford on Saturday afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium.

RMU, which has won three games in a row, trailed 12-10 with 3:24 left in the second half, but Mackenzie Gandy and her twin sister Melanie scored less than a minute apart to set up the Colonials' second overtime game of the season. And much like in their first sudden victory of the season Feb. 20 vs. Canisius, the Colonials (6-2) struck on their first crack at the attack.

In a reverse of the final goal of regulation, Melanie connected with Mackenzie for the decisive strike in OT. The twins, who rank 1-2 on RMU in scoring, combined on the final three goals of the afternoon, paying off the most memorable finishing push of the season.

"Like any other team, we would've rather pulled it out at the end of regulation," said Mackenzie Gandy, who matched her career single-game high in goals, set two years ago. "But (winning in overtime) shows how we know to dig deep and come together as a team to do the little things right and get a win."

Robert Morris was in position to make it a more routine win at the half, leading 6-3 against a Radford team that came to town trying to break a six-game losing streak. But the visiting Highlanders (1-7) outscored the Colonials 8-2 in the middle 20 minutes of the second half to take an 11-9 edge into the final five. 

RMU junior midfielder Clio Kerr pulled one back with an unassisted goal with 4:34 remaining in regulation, but Radford's Emma Rogers finished a five-goal afternoon a minute later, seemingly putting the home team in desperate straits.

A draw control by Kerr gave the Colonials a shot, though, and Melanie Gandy set up Mackenzie for her team-best 20th goal with 2:37 left. Melanie won the ensuing draw, then earned her third goal of the game off Mackenzie's assist with 1:48 showing on the stadium clock. Then, sophomore defender Katie Martin came up with a caused turnover and a pair of ground balls in the final 60 seconds to send the game to overtime.



"We had a great energy booster when Katie came away with that interception," Mackenzie Gandy said. "That's when everything changed and we started playing our style to come away with the win."

On the first draw of the sudden-death session, Kerr came up with the ball and the Colonials executed their plan to perfection. With Melanie holding the ball to the left of the Radford net, several RMU players congregated at the top of the critical scoring area to draw defenders. The play worked, as Mackenzie got the jump on her lone defender, cradling a pass from Melanie and whipping the ball past Highlanders goalie Maddie Mashewske in one motion.

The finish was fitting, considering how hot Mackenzie Gandy has been. She accounted for seven points in all -- also tying an NCAA career best -- in boosting her season total to 34 points (21g, 13a). Her 4.25 points-per-game average would be the second highest in program history if she can maintain this scorching pace. 

Melanie isn't far behind, either, ending up with six points (3g, 3a) in all. The defending Northeast Conference Player of the Week has piled up 19 points (11g, 8a) in her past three games, all of them RMU wins. She's just five points behind her sister as the end of the non-conference slate approaches.

Other stat sheet fillers on this day included junior Meghan Crouse, whose five ground balls and three caused turnovers tied her for the team lead in both possession-oriented categories. Sophomore Rachel Ward netted her second two-goal game of her career. And junior defenders Shea McArdle (three caused turnovers) and Kelly Colegrove (two) came up with some big plays as well.

However, there will be aspects to improve as the team prepares to visit Philadelphia-based Drexel next Saturday. One of those is the blown halftime lead, the first time this year the Colonials let that sizable of an early advantage slip away. Also, RMU committed 21 turnovers and had just a .772 clear percentage; both numbers were worse than its season averages entering the day.

But results are results, and there was enough spirit left in the Colonials' collective psyche to churn out a memorable win.

"It came down," Mackenzie Gandy said, "to mental toughness and grit."