PITTSBURGH, Pa.— The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team hits the road for the first time this season as they begin MAC Play with a trip to Kent, Ohio for a showdown with the Golden Flash.  

COLONIAL WLAX PREVIEW

ROBERT MORRIS (3-0-0, 0-0 MAC)

VS KENT STATE (0-2, 0-0 MAC)

Wednesday, March 3 at 3:00 p.m.

DIX STADIUM, KENT OHIO

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LIVE STATS via Sidearm

LAST TIME OUT

Robert Morris improved to a perfect 3-0 on the season after a Sunday home win against Gardner-Webb by a final score of 12-9. 

Despite a slow start that kept them off the scoreboard until nearly halfway through the first half, Mackenzie Gandy finished with six goals for the second straight game as RMU managed a come-from-behind win in the second half against the Runnin' Bulldogs.  

OPPOSITION RESEARCH

Kent State is 0-2 to start the season with losses to recent foe Fresno State as well as a 19-8 loss against Marquette this past Sunday.

RMU is 2-0 all-time against Kent State since the inauguration of the Golden Flash lacrosse program in 2019, most recently earning a 18-7 win over them at Joe Walton Stadium in February of 2020. 

Junior mid Abby Jones leads KSU in both goals (five) and points (six). They were picked to finish third overall in the 2021 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll.  

KNOW BOBBY MO

• RMU faces its first road game of the year. They were 1-2 on the road last season.  
• The Colonials are 1-0 all-time at KSU. 
• The Colonials are 3-0 to start the 2021 season and have not lost a game at Joe Walton Stadium since February 27, 2019 against Liberty, a win streak that currently sits at twelve games. 
• Graduate attack Mackenzie Gandy passed Ashley Levering '09 last week first for place on the all-time scoring list with 180 career points and has posted back-to-back six-goal games. 
• Gandy is also close to breaking several other program records this season, needing 12 goals and 29 assists to pass Jenn Collins '09 and Levering for most all time in each category.  Defender Kelley Colegrove needs 20 caused turnovers to pass Colleen O'Donnell '12 for most in program history as well.
• Several RMU freshman have already scored their first career NCAA tallies this season. Olivia Rupert scored against Liberty while Kathleen Kelley and Isabelle Robarge netted their firsts against Gardner-Webb.  
• RMU was picked to finish second in the MAC in the preseason coaches' poll, earning two first-place votes. Central Michigan took the top spot with four first-place votes, with Kent State coming in third. 
• Goalie Katelyn Miller has started every game for the Colonials since arriving on campus four years ago, a remarkable streak of 62 in a row. She has the best goals-against average (10.18) in the 17-year history of the program and the second-best save percentage (.465). Last season she passed Kaitlin Pentz '14 for the most ever wins by an RMU goalkeeper. 
• The Colonials will boast an expanded squad in 2021 that includes six graduate students, seven total seniors, six juniors, five sophomores and twelve freshmen.  
• Robert Morris welcomes back six graduate students for their last go-around with the program, a class which includes their three top scorers in Mackenzie Gandy, Melanie Gandy and R-Sr. Clio Kerr.  Ground ball leaders Madison Burke and Kelly Colegrove also make their return, as do free-position goals leaders Thalia Zolis and Shea McArdle. 
• The Colonials will see a mix of new and familiar foes as they join the MAC in 2021, They are 2-0 all-time against Kent State, 1-0 against Akron, 2-0 all-time against Central Michigan and 4-1 all-time against Detroit-Mercy meeting the latter two for the last time during the 2017 campaign.  They will play first-year Youngstown State as well. 
• For a full list of all-time team records and stats, click here.

THE SILVA FILE

Entering her fourth season at the helm of the Colonials, Katrina Silva brings 14 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 and Chelsea Rosiek. 

FOLLOW THE COLONIALS

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