CINCINNATI, Oh. - The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team ended its four game road swing with a loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats Wednesday afternoon at Nippert Stadium, 16-7.
The loss drops the Colonials to 5-2 as they close out-non-conference play in 2021. Clio Kerr and Melanie Gandy led the way for RMU with two goals each in the loss.
The Bearcats made life in the midfield tough sledding for the Colonials Wednesday, scoring twice in the first three minutes of action off of turnovers by RMU.
A caused turnover for UC's Adrianna Fess led to a quick transition and goal following a successful clear for the Bearcats, giving them a 1-0 lead just 1:44 into the game after Kylie Nause beat Katelyn Miller in goal for RMU.
Another CT for Fess set up a near-identical sequence just over a minute later as Nause buried her second in the game's opening three minutes.
They would push it to 6-0 before Kelley Flynn finally got RMU on the board, ripping one from the circle to cut the lead to 6-1 off of a dish from Alex Eckert.
Jordan Anderson and Melanie Gandy would both find the back of the net before the first half was out, however seven more goals including four total from Nause set RMU up with a mountain to climb in the second half at 13-3.
Fess continued to challenge the Colonials attack, racking up the fourth of five caused turnovers on the day that eventually led to Cincinnati pushing it to 14-3 in the second.
Clio Kerr did well to work into a dangerous scoring area on the right wing for a shot on goal, however a tough save by Kate Brocato denied Kerr her first goal of the day.
RMU managed to out-score the Bearcats 4-3 in the second half, including a 4-0 run that featured two goals from Kerr, however the first-half deficit proved insurmountable for RMU. Despite a 6-2 effort on draws and a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal in the second, RMU could not solve Brocato with enough regularity to jump-start a comeback.
Thirteen goals in the first 30 minutes as well as a dominant 12-5 effort on draw controls for UC helped the Bearcats build up their lead and keep the Colonials at arms length in the second.
