MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Robert Morris University women's soccer team begins its 28th season of NCAA Division I play with a two-match opening week, starting Thursday at Bucknell and concluding Sunday against Purdue Fort Wayne at the North Athletic Complex.

ROBERT MORRIS (0-0, 0-0 NEC)
at BUCKNELL (0-0, 0-0 PATRIOT)
Thursday, Aug. 22 at 4 p.m.
Lewisburg, Pa.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

ROBERT MORRIS
vs. PURDUE FORT WAYNE (0-0, 0-0 SUMMIT)
Sunday, Aug. 25 at 1 p.m.
North Athletic Complex
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

LAST SEASON
Robert Morris went 4-4-0 in Northeast Conference play in 2018, marking four consecutive campaigns it has reached the .500 mark or better in league. Overall, RMU went 6-12-0, including non-conference wins over UMBC and Youngstown State. The Colonials ended last season on a roll, winning three of their last four to finish a half-game out of the NEC tournament.

HISTORY LESSON
While this is the first meeting between RMU and Bucknell since 2014, the two programs have faced off 13 times previously. The Bison have won 10 of those, but the Colonials have captured two of the past five, including a 2-1 home result in 2013.

The all-time series against Purdue Fort Wayne is less extensive, with the Mastodons winning both meetings to date. In the most recent matchup, in 2017, then-sophomore Kristina Kelley earned a late assist in a 4-2 RMU road loss.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Bucknell fell off in 2018 after claiming back-to-back Patriot League titles, finishing 4-5 in league and 7-11-1 overall. Fifth-year head coach Kelly Cook returns her leading scorer in Jenna Marek, but will have to replace four starters on the defensive side of the ball.

Sophomore Kayla Wisniewski paced Purdue Fort Wayne with eight goals last season, the fifth-most in program history, but the Mastodons struggled to a 4-12-1 overall mark -- 1-7 in the Summit League. Sixth-year bench boss Jason Burr returns four seniors and nine juniors.

KNOW BOBBY MO
• The Colonials return a pair of All-NEC selections in senior forward/midfielder Kelley (Second Team) and sophomore defender Allie Ball (All-Rookie). RMU will look to replace the outstanding attack production of the graduated Jane Schleicher, who won 2018 NEC Offensive Player of the Year and First Team honors after a 13-goal senior season.

• Senior goalkeeper Julia Schmid also stood out last season, stopping 87.3 percent of the shots she faced to set the all-time program single-season record, previously held by Becky Schoenecker '15. Schmid, a native of Germany, stopped 62 of 71 shots on target in 2018, making the most of her nine appearances (six starts).

• With help from Schmid and fellow returning keeper Sydney Bruckner, the 2018 Colonials were one of the stingiest in team history, allowing just 29 total goals, or 1.60 per match. The keepers' collective save percentage of .841 was the third-best ever for an RMU team.

• Of the 11 players who started 10 games or more last year, RMU returns seven of those, plus six more who appeared in at least 10 matches in 2018. Senior Ontario native Megan DiNatale and Bridgeville's own Ball anchor the back line, while locals Bailey Farabaugh (Bethel Park), Nicolette Casarcia (Murrysville), Brittany O'Connell (North Huntingdon) and Taylor Burkley (North Hills) bring experience in the midfield.

• Robert Morris went unbeaten in preseason action, drawing against Detroit Mercy (0-0) and Loyola Maryland (1-1) at home. Freshman defender Jordan Rosengrant smashed in a long-range goal in the latter matchup, capping a strong late push from the Colonials at Joe Walton Stadium.

• Rosengrant is one of eight newcomers to the RMU fold, including seven freshmen in all. Sophomore transfer Devon Noll arrives from Long Island, where she started twice and appeared eight times overall in 2018. Five of the newcomers are from Pennsylvania, with New Jersey and the nation of Norway (Sofie Lien Fagereng) also represented.

• The Colonials added one of their own to the coaching staff, 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.

HALL OF FAME COACHING
A 2000 inductee into the RMU Athletic Hall of Fame, coaching legend 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's team in 2002. He led the women's team to its lone NEC tourney appearance to date, in 2015, 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 Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the A-League. Kowalski was inducted into the Riverhounds' inaugural hall of fame class this summer, the fifth hall of fame he belongs to.

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 welcome regional non-conference foe Niagara to the North Athletic Complex on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 1 p.m.