BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team knew that, to give itself its best chance to gain in the Northeast Conference postseason chase, a two-win weekend on the road would be ideal.

The Colonials pulled that off on a soggy Saturday afternoon in New York City, polishing off an encouraging trip with a 15-8 defeat of LIU Brooklyn. RMU (10-4, 3-2 NEC) has won three straight to jump into fourth place in the league standings, just above the cutoff for tournament qualification.

Junior attacker Mackenzie Gandy kept her lead in RMU's individual scoring race, notching a career-high-tying five goals and six total points. She had three of those goals before the midway point of the first half, as the Colonials staked out a 7-1 lead. Gandy now boasts 37 goals and 54 points, already the eighth-best single-season total in program history.

"'Kenz' got her feet under her," RMU head coach Katrina Silva said. "When she plays with speed, she's hard to stop."

Robert Morris lost its first two league games two weekends ago, falling at Wagner and Mount St. Mary's. But a home win over Saint Francis last Friday got the ball rolling in the right direction, a momentum the Colonials continued by downing Sacred Heart and LIU Brooklyn to move ahead of both in the standings.

After she scored an RMU-record nine goals last Friday, senior Kerri Sayrafe was the focus of the Blackbirds' defense Saturday. But even though Sayrafe was held scoreless, there were too many options for RMU to get stymied in this lunchtime matchup. On top of Gandy's five-spot, seven other Colonials scored at least once, including twin sister and RMU chief playmaker Melanie Gandy (one goal, two assists).

"They played really physical on Kerri," Silva said. "But that's OK, because we have other players who can step up."

Senior attacker Shannon Lynch buried two of her three goals before the break, then she and Gandy scored back to back early in the second half to cap a 4-0 RMU run that gave the visitors an 11-4 advantage. Lynch has four goals and five assists in RMU's past three games.

"The best part is when we play together and show love for one another," Lynch said, "our style of play looks really great."

Freshman Bailey Christianson (two goals) and sophomore Kelley Flynn (goal, assist) delivered more offense in the second half, making for a second consecutive low-stress outing for goalie Katelyn Miller. The junior backstop denied five of 11 Blackbirds shots to out-duel LIU keeper counterparts Sam Kidd and Virginia Gibbons.

"We came out hot," Silva said. "We got their starting goalie (Kidd) to the bench, which was exciting. Shooting well, even though we didn't possess the ball as well."

RMU deployed 24 players in all, compared to 16 for LIU Brooklyn (6-9, 3-2), so the Colonials' depth helped get the job done in the second game of the weekend for both teams. RMU's 21 turnovers (just seven of which were forced) were too much for Silva's taste, but the pace of the game proved excessive for the upstart Blackbirds to keep up.

"This is one of the best LIU teams I've seen," Silva said. "They have some strong players. Our strategy is to make these teams run and deplete them. You're asking a lot of kids to run the whole game. We used everyone today, again. I want to continue to do that."

The Colonials put 26 of their 35 total shots on goal, keeping up the sharp finishing that returned to their game last Friday in an 18-goal outburst on home turf. Over this three-game win streak, RMU has outscored its opponents by a combined tally of 48-16, reaching the 10-win mark for the fourth time in 15 Division I seasons.

Also helping the RMU attack stay potent: Junior midfielder Clio Kerr snatched a career-best 10 draw controls and added two caused turnovers.

With one more win needed to lock up a sixth consecutive NEC tournament berth, the Colonials return to Joe Walton Stadium for the final weekend of the regular season. The action begins next Friday at 3 p.m. when traditional contender Bryant pays a visit to Moon Township. RMU will then host Central Connecticut on Sunday, April 28.

"For the home stretch, I expect us to keep working on ourselves and our style of game," Lynch said, "so that we can build on it and finish the regular season strong on our home field."