Women's Soccer | 9/18/2019 9:26:00 AM

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- After collecting its second win last week, the Robert Morris University women's soccer team makes the leap into Northeast Conference play, but not before one final non-conference matchup against a regional opponent.

ROBERT MORRIS (2-4-1) at AKRON (2-5-0)
Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.
FirstEnergy Stadium, Akron, Ohio
LIVE STATS | VIDEO

ROBERT MORRIS vs. MOUNT ST. MARY'S (1-6-0)
Sunday, Sept. 22 at 1 p.m.
North Athletic Complex
LIVE STATS | VIDEO

LAST WEEK
Robert Morris split a road-home weekend, taking a 1-0 overtime decision at previously-unbeaten Ohio last Thursday before falling 2-1 to Yale on Sunday at the North Athletic Complex. Freshman forward Kayla Veloso-Lima notched the sudden-death game-winner in the first of those matches, while senior Kristina Kelley scored her 13th NCAA goal in the latter. Junior keeper Sydney Bruckner made 17 stops across the two matches, lifting her season save percentage to .850.

KNOW BOBBY MO
• On a team with eight newcomers, it's fitting that two freshmen lead the way in terms of scoring. First-year forwards Sheridan Reid and Veloso-Lima are tied for RMU's top spot with six points apiece, with Reid converting three goals and Veloso-Lima contributing two assists to go with her two successful strikes.

• Reid's three goals to this point give her a chance to challenge an RMU record. The most goals scored by a Colonials freshman is 10, by Kathleen Caggiano '10 during the 2007 season, while Ayana Davis '12 and Katie Dugan '02 had nine and eight goals, respectively, in their first seasons on campus. Dugan (first), Davis (second) and Caggiano (fourth) are all among the top goal-getters in team history.

• With two goals in the first seven games, senior attacking midfielder Kristina Kelley continues her climb up the program's all-time scoring chart. The senior from Halifax, Pa., has 13 career strikes in an RMU uniform, moving her one past Kelly Haggard '96 and Hilary Nellis '06 for the eighth-most in team history. Two more goals this season would put Kelley in RMU's all-time top five.

• Bruckner, a native of Mechanicsburg, Pa., has been a workhorse in goal to this point, seeing action in all seven matches. Her sixth RMU shutout, recorded Sept. 12 at Ohio, pushed her to fifth on the program's all-time list, one ahead of Makenzie Shearson '18 and one behind Becky Shoenecker '16.

• While the results have been difficult to come by for the Colonials to this point, it's instructive to remember last season, when they went 2-8-0 in non-conference action before going 4-4-0 in NEC play and just barely missing out on the conference tournament. In fact, RMU has gone a collective 7-24-0 out of league over the past three seasons, but has rallied for a 12-12-0 mark against NEC foes during that span.

• The Colonials return a pair of All-NEC selections in 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.

• 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), Courtney Hurey (Imperial) and Taylor Burkley (North Hills) bring experience in the midfield.

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

HISTORY LESSON
RMU is still looking for its first win vs. Akron, since the Zips have taken all three meetings to date. Last September at the NAC, Akron's two-goal second half overwhelmed an equalizing strike by Schleicher before intermission. In the only previous matchup at Akron, Schleicher's goal and assist weren't enough to overcome a five-goal Zips attack.

The Colonials' history against Mount St. Mary's is more promising, although the Mountaineers pulled out a 2-0 win in Emmitsburg, Maryland, last October. Prior to that, though, RMU had won four straight, highlighted by a 4-0 whitewash two years ago; then-sophomore Kelley paced the Bobby Mo offense with a goal and a helper.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Akron has struggled to string together results with Mid-American Conference action looming a week away. Offense has been an issue for fifth-year head coach Noreen Herlihy, as the Zips have scored just six goals in seven fixtures, getting shut out twice so far. Their only common opponent with RMU is Niagara: Akron topped the Purple Eagles 2-1, while the Colonials fell to them 2-0.

Coming off its first NEC tourney appearance since 1997, Mount St. Mary's will open league play on Friday against Saint Francis before traveling to Moon Township. The Mountaineers' attack has been searching for answers, as they went their first six games without putting a single shot in the net. Junior Jasmine McCree broke the hex last Sunday in a 1-0 defeat of American.

HONOR ROLL
The following Colonials have been honored by the NEC this season ...
Sheridan Reid - Rookie of the Week (Aug. 26), Prime Performer (Sept. 4)
Sydney Bruckner - Prime Performer (Aug. 26, Sept. 17)
Kayla Veloso-Lima - Prime Performer (Sept. 17)

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 what was then called 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 have just one match on their schedule in the final week of September, with NEC rival Bryant invading Moon Township on Sunday, Sept. 29.