PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team improved to 2-0 in MAC play and 4-0 at home this season with a 15-4 win over the Akron Zips at Joe Walton Stadium Tuesday afternoon.
Twelve different Colonials scored goals in the win as RMU moves to 6-2 overall on the year, led by Jordan Anderson who picked up a hat trick. Katelyn Miller made six saves in goal as RMU extends its home win streak to 13 games.
"There was a couple of really nice things I thought you saw today," head coach Katrina Silva said. "We've been working all week on our transitional patterns, trying to push the fast break which we didn't as much as we wanted to, but we're getting there."
The Colonials enjoyed a dominant first half, outscoring Akron 7-0 and posting an impressive 24-7 advantage in total shots.
Thalia Zolis got the action started just under three minutes into things, burying a shot from the circle off a nice feed from Jordan Anderson.
Another close-range tally from Mackenzie Gandy set RMU off an running in the first as an energized Colonials squad worked their way through Akron's midfield defense quickly and efficiently to set up a consistent run of scoring chances and the majority of possession in the opening thirty.
Three straight free-position goals gave RMU some more breathing room before Emilie Kim and Gianna Anthony made it 7-0 just before the end of the half in what was Anthony's first career NCAA goal.
"We need to learn to adjust to the level of the game that was around us," Silva said. "When they change something, we need to be able to do the same and it becomes this chess match. I think it took us a while today because we've really been harping on our patterns and what we want to do as opposed to responding to them."
The Colonials kept the clock running with three more quick goals to start the second as Julia Koterwas picked up her first of the day along with tallies from Kelsey Nelson and Clio Kerr.
With a healthy lead built up, the Colonials went deep into its bench as nearly every member of the RMU roster saw game action against Akron.
Madison Burke and Melanie Gandy led the way with three ground balls a piece, while Jordan Anderson racked up an impressive eight draw controls.
"We're doing what we want to do, which is get our people in and get them minutes, get them some experience," Silva said. "We've done better jobs of that at other points, but that's our challenge and what we're looking forward to on Saturday in Detroit."
