Women's Soccer | 8/30/2019 11:00:00 AM

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Coming off a pair of overtime games in its opening week of play, the Robert Morris University women's soccer team remains at home for two more non-conference matches, welcoming Niagara and Canisius to the North Athletic Complex over the Labor Day weekend.

ROBERT MORRIS (0-1-1, 0-0 NEC) vs. NIAGARA (1-1, 0-0 MAAC)
Saturday, Aug. 31 at 1 p.m.
North Athletic Complex
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

ROBERT MORRIS vs. CANISIUS (1-1, 0-0 MAAC)
Monday, Sept. 2 at 1 p.m.
North Athletic Complex
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

LAST WEEK
Robert Morris played into extra time twice in four days, falling 2-1 at Bucknell in the season opener, then rebounding for a come-from-behind 1-1 home draw against Purdue Fort Wayne last Sunday.

Freshman forward Sheridan Reid earned Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week honors by scoring the equalizer against the Mastodons, while junior goalkeeper Sydney Bruckner capped a strong opening week with a six-save relief appearance. Both women were honored as RMU's Student-Athletes of the Week as well.

KNOW BOBBY MO
• The Colonials return a pair of All-NEC selections in senior forward/midfielder Kristina 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.

• With a goal in the season opener at Bucknell, Kelley continues her climb up the program's all-time scoring chart. The senior from Halifax, Pa., has 12 career strikes in an RMU uniform, tying her with Kelly Haggard '96 and Hilary Nellis '06 for the eighth-most in team history. Three more goals this season would put Kelley in RMU's all-time top five.

• 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.

• Reid 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.

• Senior goalkeeper Julia Schmid stood out in the record books last season, stopping 87.3 percent of the shots she faced to set the all-time program single-season mark, 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.

• 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.

THE KOWALSKI FILE
A 2000 inductee into the RMU Athletic Hall of Fame, coach 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 in 2002. In 2015, he led the women's team to its lone NEC tourney appearance to date, 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.

RMU ON FILM
"My advice to players coming in is, don't be cocky, but have some confidence in what you're doing. You're here for a reason."

Matt Gajtka tracked down Bruckner for a chat about the lessons of experience and a hot opening week to her junior year:



HISTORY LESSON
The Colonials have faced Niagara in each of the past 13 seasons, winning five of those. However, the Purple Eagles have claimed the past five in a row, including a 3-2 decision last August in western New York. In that matchup, Class of 2019 striker Jane Schleicher scored a pair of second-half goals to rally RMU from a 2-0 hole, but Niagara netted the game-winner in the first overtime. Then-freshman midfielder Bailey Farabaugh earned an assist on Schleicher's second tally.

RMU has also made an autumn routine of facing Canisius, squaring off against the Golden Griffins for the past five seasons. The Colonials won the first two matchups in 2014 and 2015, but the Griffs have struck back to take three in a row. Last year in Buffalo, N.Y., Bruckner stopped seven shots, but Canisius keeper Alana Rossi kept a six-save clean sheet to help deliver a 1-0 win to the home team. The last time RMU scored against Canisius was in 2015, when Cassie Raymond's two-goal day paced a 4-1 win.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Niagara is coming off a successful 2018 season that saw the Purps post winning records both overall and in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play, adding a run to the MAAC semifinals on top of that. That was the second straight year 21st-year head coach Peter Veltri led Niagara to postseason play. This year, Niagara is off to a 1-1 start, with returning leading scorers Annie Ibey (two goals, one assist) and Kelsey Araujo (one goal, one assist) back on last season's pace.

Under fifth-year head coach Todd Clark, Canisius is trying to bounce back from a four-win 2018 that included only one victory in MAAC play. Following an opening-day overtime loss at Elon, the Griffs prevailed 1-0 over Hampton in their home lid-lifter last Sunday. A fifth-minute goal by Luca Fahmer did the trick, with Rossi earning the shutout on a single save. That was a stark departure from the Elon game, when Rossi was pelted with 12 shots on target.

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 will have just one match on their collective plate next week, as they travel to Washington, D.C., to tangle with Howard on Friday, Sept. 6. Kickoff with the Bison is set for 4 p.m.