MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team earned a shot of adrenaline Friday afternoon, with help from a record-setting performance by Kerri Sayrafe.

The senior attacker scored nine goals in RMU's 18-5 rout of Northeast Conference rival Saint Francis at Joe Walton Stadium, breaking her own previous program record of eight, set two seasons ago against ... Saint Francis at Joe Walton Stadium.

"It's great to score goals, but even better to get everyone involved," said Sayrafe, who entered the game with eight goals on the season. "We just looked really good today."

Sayrafe spearheaded that offensive effort, with junior attacker Melanie Gandy putting up a career-best six assists as part of an eight-point day. Only two players in 15 years of RMU Division I play -- Ashley Levering '09 and current senior Shannon Lynch -- have assisted on more goals than Gandy did Friday.

Lynch herself notched three assists, two of them on Sayrafe goals in the first half. Sayrafe buried six goals before intermission as the Colonials (8-4, 1-2 NEC) broke a 2-2 tie with an 8-2 run over the final 15 minutes of the first.

Five consecutive goals by the Colonials to open the second triggered a running clock, but Sayrafe still found time to net two goals in the final 10 minutes, one-upping her own performance almost exactly two years ago. She scored her record-setter on a cut to the goal to receive a dish by sophomore Rachel Ward with four seconds to go.

"Kerri is just one of those players," RMU head coach Katrina Silva said. "She's always open and we've not done a great job this year of finding her with the ball. She can finish every time she gets it."



After a practice week in which the Colonials focused on moving the ball and moving their feet, the 13 assists RMU earned seemed to please Silva as much as the 18 goals on the scoreboard and the massive performance from one of her seniors.

"It's exciting, because how many assists were on (Sayrafe's) goals today?" Silva asked. "Usually, when you throw the ball to Kerri, it ends up in the back of the net. Hopefully that's a trend we can continue."

Nine players in all recorded at least a point for RMU, including top scorer Mackenzie Gandy, who registered her seventh hat trick in 12 games to go with an assist. Junior Clio Kerr notched her third two-goal game of the year and pulled in four draw controls to boot.

"Part of our plan all week was to get everybody involved, use each other's strengths," Sayrafe said. "That's what we did today."

The outcome was a welcomed change after RMU suffered a pair of difficult losses on the road last weekend. The Colonials scored just 10 goals and allowed 31 in falling to Wagner and Mount St. Mary's, but they regained their NEC footing by scoring their 14th consecutive victory over Saint Francis (3-8, 0-3 NEC).

RMU's advantage in play was perhaps best demonstrated by a 38-13 shot differential, but they also pressured the Red Flash into 12 caused turnovers. Junior defender Madison Burke was especially prominent in that area, forcing four turnovers on her own. NEC caused-turnover leader Kelly Colegrove added two more to her total.

Silva thought the energy created on the attack might've helped at the other end of the field.

"We went with a new style today, where we just really wanted to play faster," she said. "We have a lot of good players on our team and we have to find a way to get them into games. And if they move their feet on offense, they tend to move their feet on defense, too. It definitely works out."

The next challenge for Robert Morris will be to maintain that pace on another two-game NEC roadie. The Colonials will travel to Connecticut to face Sacred Heart on Thursday, then swing through LIU Brooklyn next Saturday.

Tough travel is a fact of life in the NEC, though, a fact reinforced to RMU just last week.

"It's a really long weekend, but that's what the conference (tournament) is going to be like," Silva said. "You're going to have to dig your heels in and battle through the whole thing. I think we learned a lot about ourselves this past weekend (on the road). So it was nice to go out today and start that new trend."