Women's Soccer | 9/28/2019 9:00:00 AM

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Robert Morris University women's soccer team seeks to build on an opening win in Northeast Conference action when it challenges Bryant in the lone match on the schedule this week.

ROBERT MORRIS (3-5-1, 1-0-0 NEC) vs. BRYANT (3-3-2, 1-0-1)
Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m.
LIVE STATS | VIDEO

LAST WEEK
After closing non-conference play with a tight 1-0 loss at Akron last Thursday, the Colonials reversed that score line in a shutout win over Mount St. Mary's last Sunday in their conference lid-lifter. Freshman forward Kayla Veloso-Lima scored the game's lone goal from the penalty spot, giving her three goals in her first nine NCAA games. Junior keeper Sydney Bruckner stopped four shots for her seventh career clean sheet.

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 three goals apiece, with Reid Veloso-Lima adding a pair of assists to pace the Colonials in points. The last time RMU had this many goals contributed by freshmen was 2008 (eight).

• Reid and Veloso-Lima have opportunities 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 netted so far, 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.

• A native of Mechanicsburg, Pa., Bruckner has been a workhorse in goal to this point, seeing action in all nine matches, starting seven of those. Her seventh RMU shutout, recorded Sept. 22 vs. Mount St. Mary's, pushed her to a tie for fourth on the program's all-time list, level with the athletic department's current video coordinator Becky Schoenecker '16.

• While results were difficult to come by in the first four weeks, it's instructive to remember last season, when the Colonials went 2-8 in non-conference action before going 4-4 in NEC play and just barely missing out on the conference tournament. All told, RMU has gone a collective 7-25-1 out of league over the past three seasons, but has rallied for a 13-12-0 mark against NEC foes during that span.

• The Colonials return two All-NEC selections in Kelley (Second Team) and sophomore defender Allie Ball (All-Rookie). Not coincidentally, they rank 1-2 on the team in minutes played. WPIAL products Brittany O'Connell (Norwin) and Courtney Hurey (West Allegheny) also have started all nine games, as has Veloso-Lima. Seniors Megan DiNatale and Nicolette Casarcia are next up in terms of playing time.

• 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
The Colonials have just one victory in their past 11 matches against Bryant, dating back to 2009. Bruckner made eight saves in last year's matchup in Springfield, Rhode Island, which ended in a 2-0 Bulldogs victory. Ironically, the only time this decade RMU topped Bryant was in the 2015 NEC semifinal round, 2-1 on a dramatic PK from Maleha Kureishy '17.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Bryant currently holds the top spot in the NEC standings, on merit of a win over league newcomer Merrimack and a draw against defending champ Central Connecticut. Senior midfielder Remi Manna paces the Bulldogs with three goals and two assists. Junior keeper Meghan Dalton hasn't missed a minute, stopping 80 percent of shots faced to help hold opponents to one goal in seven of eight matches.

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, Sept. 25)
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 hit the road next weekend for a two-game trip east. Wagner is on deck for Friday, Oct. 4, with restructured Long Island up next on Sunday, Oct. 6.