Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University will compete in the Horizon League in 10 of its varsity sports beginning in 2020-21. As the Colonials make the transition, stay tuned to RMUColonials.com over the next few months as it breaks down what to expect. Today, we look at women's soccer.
THE BACKDROP
RMU officially joined the Horizon League July 1, 2020, in 10 of its varsity sports. Sports that will compete in the Horizon League for the Colonials include men's and women's soccer, volleyball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field, men's and women's basketball, golf, and softball. Men's hockey competes in Atlantic Hockey, women's hockey in College Hockey America (CHA), and rowing in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Robert Morris football will join the Big South in 2021, while women's lacrosse joined the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
STARTING XI
The Horizon League features 12 members for women's soccer, including Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Illinois-Chicago, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Northern Kentucky, Oakland, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Robert Morris, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wright State and Youngstown State. In addition to RMU competing in its first season in the Horizon League in 2020-21, the same holds true for Purdue University Fort Wayne, which announced its move to the conference August 6, 2019.
RECENT CHAMPIONS
Milwaukee has been the dominant program in Horizon League women's soccer historically, owning 13 conference titles in 27 years. They have won the last two league championships as well, and in 2019 wrapped up an impressive season by finishing first overall in the league standings before taking down Oakland and UIC en-route to another tournament championship. Junior Haley Johnson was named Tournament MVP, while McKaela Schmelzer, Mackenzie Schill, and Elaina LaMacchia all earned nods for the All-Tournament team.
THE HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT
While a tournament format for the 2020 campaign has not been formally announced yet, previous editions of the Horizon League tournament featured the top six teams qualifying. The #3 and #4 seeds hosted the quarterfinal rounds, while the #1 and #2 seeds received byes to the semifinal. The semifinals and final were hosted by the #1 seeds, and every championship since 2014 has been hosted in Milwaukee.
THE I-76 RIVALRY
Youngstown State will be Robert Morris' closest conference foe, with just 58 miles separating Youngstown and Moon Township. The Penguins and Colonials have squared off 21 times in their history, with RMU owning an 13-8-1 overall record in the series. The Colonials were victorious in their last meeting against YSU, earning a 2-0 win in Youngstown back in September of 2018. The farthest member in the Horizon League for RMU is Green Bay, which is 657 miles away from the North Athletic Complex.
FAMILIAR FOES, NEW OPPONENTS
Amongst their new Horizon League foes, the Colonials have never faced Detroit Mercy, UIC, Indianapolis, Oakland, or Green Bay before, though they did face off against the Titans in pre-season play a year ago. All-time, RMU is 0-2-1 against Purdue Fort Wayne, battling them to a 1-1 draw a year ago at Joe Walton Stadium. They are 2-2 against Northern Kentucky, 0-2 against Wright State, 13-8-1 against Youngstown State, 2-4 against Cleveland State, and 0-2 against Milwaukee. 2020 will see RMU continue with a number of rivalries that have gone dormant in recent years, including their first matchup against Cleveland State since 2013 as well as their first meeting against Wright State since way back in the 1996 season.
COME DANCING
The winner of the Horizon League Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and in recent years league members have made an impact on the national stage. Winners of the last two Horizon League tournaments, Milwaukee has advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament several times, including back-to-back trips during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. They reached the tournament again on 2019, falling to Wisconsin 1-0 in the opening round of play last November.
TAKING A STEP
Robert Morris begins 2020 with a new coach in Chris Shaw, as well as a new system of play to go along with their new home win the Horizon League. While the program was competitive and always in the mix for the NEC Tournament, Shaw will look to take the Colonials to new heights in his first season behind the helm. Since a 2015 campaign that saw RMU finish second overall in the regular season standings and make a run to the NEC Tournament Final, the Colonials have been hovering around the .500 mark in conference play the last five years and have not returned to a conference tournament since. For a program that has never won a conference tournament, the Horizon league offers a fresh start and a new challenge for Coach Shaw and his new staff.
HORIZON HISTORY
RMU boasts an experienced senior class, with the six-girl group of fourth-years primed and ready to lead RMU through their new surroundings in their final season with the program. Julia Schmid, Keli Rosensteel, Brittany O'Connell, Kaele Kloc, Taylor Burkley, and Sydney Bruckner make up RMU's senior class, led by O'Connell as the top senior returning scorer from a year ago. What's more, the current RMU senior class has already faced off against a number of HL opponents including Milwaukee, Youngstown State, and Fort Wayne. Schmid posted a seven-save clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Youngstown State in their last meeting back in September of 2018.
BENCH BOSS
The Colonials will have a new look and feel to them in 2020, as a new group of players comes into the mix in head coach Chris Shaw's first season at the helm of RMU. Shaw spent the last six years as the head coach at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), compiling an overall record of 66-48-9 (.573). The winningest coach in program history, Shaw was named the 2016 Mountain West Conference (MWC) Coach of the Year after leading the Rebels to an overall record of 16-4-3 (.761), including a mark of 8-1-2 (.818) in the MWC. UNLV claimed its first conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth since 2007, had a 12-match unbeaten streak during the year, the longest in program history, and also established school records for points (152), goals (51) and assists (50). Prior to being named head coach at UNLV, Shaw spent the 2013 season as the head coach at Barton College in Wilson, N.C. The Bulldogs posted an overall record of 14-5-1 (.725), and Shaw was selected as the 2013 Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year.
THE NEW SQUAD
The Colonials return 19 of 22 players from last year's squad, and will also welcome the services of six newcomers to the team, including four freshman as well as a pair of transfers. Courtney Worstell, a redshirt junior keeper, comes to the Colonials after three years at Washington State University, including a dramatic run in the 2019 campaign that saw the Cougars go all the way to NCAA Final Four before falling to #2 North Carolina. She is joined by fellow transfer Kristi Kania, a Moon Township native and former Miami Redhawk who joins RMU ahead of her sophomore season. Haleigh Finale, Caitlyn Berl, Elise Bingle and Ylexus Gilliland all join the Colonials as freshman after remarkable high school and club careers as RMU looks to return to postseason play for the first time since 2015.
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