CANONSBURG, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's soccer team dropped their final home game of the 2021 campaign Tuesday afternoon at SouthPointe Fieldhouse 3-0 against Cleveland State.
The loss moves RMU to 1-7-0 (1-7-0 HL) on the season.
"It's the final third and the defensive third where we continue to struggle," head coach Chris Shaw said. "We're good in the middle third, but we need to find a way to quit bleeding goals and find a way to put the ball in the back of the net."
The Colonials survived an early close call when a CSU goal in the 6' was waved off due to offside, however the Vikings would soon strike for real to put the Colonials in an early hole.
Kathryn Ramicone made it 1-0 CSU in the 11' when a hard cross into the box found her waiting near the back post. The forward paused for a split second to gather herself before flicking a quick effort past Courtney Worstell.
Despite decent looks from Chelsea Kingston and Haleigh Finale, the Vikings pushed their lead to 2-0 20 minutes later after Ali Martin's header in the box off of a corner trickled over the goal line to double the gap for the Colonials.
Despite a late bout of possession RMU could not chip away at the deficit before the whistle blew on the first half of action.
The Colonials continued to work the ball downfield, pressing the CSU back line heavily as they attempted to find the back of the net in the second half.
A dangerous looking opportunity in the 65' fell by the wayside as RMU again failed to take advantage of set pieces, earning five straight corners in a little over two minutes. While Sheridan Reid managed to get her foot on one of the volleys into the box, CSU keeper Stevie Holbrook got a hand on it to keep it out.
The Vikings tacked on a third goal in the 70', their second off of a corner, to put the game out of hand for RMU.
"Scoring goals is the hardest part of the game, but when it comes to giving up goals, we need to be better," Shaw said. "I think it's more of a mentality thing at this point, trying to be a little bit more aggressive with our attacking balls. At this point flighted balls into the box has been our Achilles heel."
