PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team returns home this week for a pair of games at Joe Walton Stadium hosting the Butler University Bulldogs on Wednesday, March 11 and the Columbia University Lions on Saturday, March 14.
Robert Morris returns to The Joe after a trip through Virginia over spring break saw them split a pair of games, taking down Radford 17-5 last Tuesday before a 14-13 loss to Liberty University two days later.
COLONIAL WLAX PREVIEW
ROBERT MORRIS (4-2, 0-0 NEC)
VS. BUTLER (5-1, 0-0 BIG EAST)
WEDNESDAY, March 11 at 3:00 p.m.
JOE WALTON MEMORIAL STADIUM. PITTSBURGH PA.
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM
ROBERT MORRIS (4-2-0, 0-0 NEC)
VS. COLUMBIA (0-6, 0-2 IVY LEAGUE)
SATURDAY, March 14 at 11:00 a.m.
JOE WALTON MEMORIAL STADIUM. PITTSBURGH PA.
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM
LAST TIME OUT
Robert Morris set out on the road for the first time since opening day at Ohio State, taking on a pair of games vs. Radford and Liberty in a spring break road trip through Virginia.
The Colonials handed Radford a decisive 17-5 loss on Tuesday, belting the Highlanders on the back of hat tricks from Mackenzie Gandy, Kelley Flynn, and Clio Kerr. Gandy also led the team in scoring with seven points.
Thursday's match against Liberty saw RMU fall behind 6-1 in the first half before clawing all the way back to tie things up with just under a minute left in regulation at 13-13 in a chippy game that featured 17 total cards handed out.
A second straight hat trick from Flynn helped RMU stay within arms length of the Flames the entire game before Kelsey Nelson finally pulled RMU even with a man-down goal with 47 seconds remaining in the second, however Liberty managed to convert a late free-position chance and re-gain the lead with just four seconds remaining to escape with a regulation win and hand RMU its first loss since February 9.
HISTORY LESSON
This week will be a week of firsts as the Colonials meet Butler and Columbia each for the first time in program history. It will be the third time this season RMU faces an opponent for the first time ever after squaring off against the Akron Zips at Joe Walton back on February 21.
OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Coming off a tough 2019 campaign that saw them win just three games and go 0-5 in conference play, Butler currently sits at 5-1 on the year, with their lone loss coming on the road to Central Michigan two weeks ago. They earned wins over pervious RMU foes Kent State and Akron, and are coming off of 14-9 win over Presbyterian College last Saturday.
Sophomore attacker Gabryelle Bodnine currently leads the Bulldogs in total scoring with 17 points in six games, and her 11 goals rank second behind junior Ashley Guerra who leads them with 13.
Columbia, meanwhile, is mired in an 0-6 skid to start the season and recently announced that head coach Andrea Cofrin had resigned of her duties effective immediately, leaving assistant Taylor Pennell to assume head coaching responsibilities in the interim.
Their best performance on the season was a 14-11 road loss to Siena on February 22, and they are coming off of a 20-2 loss against Cornell this past Saturday. The Lions are scheduled for a midweek showdown against UConn on Wednesday before making the trip to Moon Township Saturday.
Offensively, junior attacker Alex Absey leads them in goals with 11 as well as total points with 12, one of seven girls on the squad to have started all six games so far this year for the Lions.
WEATHER REPORT
Cloudy skies and a high of 50 degrees are expected for Wednesday's showdown against Butler, while Saturday is projected for a high of 50 with party sunny skies and little chance of precipitation.
THEY SAID IT
"Being on the road all week during spring break is always difficult, but we did what we wanted to do in the second half. Liberty was a very physical game overall, but that's what we wanted because we play a very physical schedule come conference play." - Coach Silva on the team's experiences in Virginia last week.
KNOW BOBBY MO
- RMU was picked to finish third in the NEC in the preseason coaches' poll, with Wagner (first) and Mount St. Mary's (second) rounded out the top three projected standings.
- Goalie Miller has started every game for the Colonials since arriving on campus three years ago, a remarkable streak of 59 in a row. She has the best goals-against average (10.18) in the 15-year history of the program and the second-best save percentage (.465). Three weeks ago she passed Kaitlin Pentz '14 for the most ever by an RMU goalkeeper after tying the mark against KSU the previous weekend.
- Miller and Mackenzie Gandy will both serve as team captains for RMU this season after being chosen by their teammates in the offseason.
- Robert Morris returns ten players who played in all 17 games last season, including three (Kerr, Colegrove, and Miller) who started all 17.
- The nine-member senior class is the largest cohort on the team. This group has participated in 36 wins so far at RMU and has never had a losing season.
- The Gandy sisters both rank among the all-time leading scorers in RMU history. Melanie currently sits 8th all-time with 130 points, while Mackenzie is just 11 away from breaking the all-time record of 179 set by Ashley Levering '09.
- Clio Kerr currently ranks second all-time in draw controls per game at 3.42. Her seven career man-up goals ranks third all-time.
- RMU has been formidable at Joe Walton Stadium in recent memory, owning a dominant 21-5 overall record at home dating back to the 2017 campaign.
- For a full list of all-time team records and stats, click here.
THE SILVA FILE
Entering her third season at the helm of the Colonials, Katrina Silva brings 13 years of Division I head coaching experience to the table. Before taking over the program in 2018, Silva served as an RMU assistant coach for five years and a volunteer assistant for one.
Previous to her time in Moon Township, Silva led the lacrosse programs at Virginia Tech (four years) and Colgate (seven), in addition to Division III Roanoke College. A goalie in her playing days, she was the 1993 Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year for Towson.
Silva will be joined by the returning Cacki Helmer as well as first-year assistant coach Chelsea Rosiek.
NEC WEEKLY AWARDS
Colleen Tifft - Rookie of the Week (February 25, March 9)
Kelly Colegrove - Defensive Player of the Week (March 2)
FOLLOW THE COLONIALS
In addition to reports and videos on RMUColonials.com, check out Twitter and Instagram for news and updates throughout the season.
