PITTSBURGH, Pa.— The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team begins a two game homestand this Saturday when they host Youngstown State at Joe Walton Stadium. 

COLONIAL WLAX PREVIEW

ROBERT MORRIS (7-2-0, 3-0 MAC)

VS YOUNGSTOWN STATE (1-3, 1-3 MAC)

Saturday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m.

Pittsburgh, Pa.

LIVE STREAM 

LIVE STATS via Sidearm

LAST TIME OUT

The Colonials ascended to the top of the MAC rankings last Saturday with a 12-7 win over preseason #1 pick Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant. 

After falling behind 1-0 in the first, RMU rattled off four straight goals in under three minutes to grab a 4-1 lead, keeping CMU at arm's length for the reminder of the game. 

Melanie Gandy scored a season-best four goals including a first half hat trick to earn MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, while Kelly Colegrove took home DPOW accolades for her role in limiting the CMU attack to just seven goals.  

OPPOSITION RESEARCH

Youngstown State has seen limited action this year compared to the Colonials at just 1-3 overall.

The Penguins are coming off of back-to-back losses, most recently falling 19-10 against Kent State on Sunday. 

Freshman mid Lauren Ottensmeyer paces YSU with ten points on the year, including eight goals.  

KNOW BOBBY MO

• Colonials are 7-2 on the season. 
• RMU improved to 3-0 and first place overall in the MAC with a win against Central Michigan last week. 
• Youngstown State is in their first year as a program and will face RMU for the first time ever Saturday.  
• At 7-2 overall, RMU is off to its best start as a program since 2019 when they also started 7-2. A win over YSU would make them 8-2 in their first ten games for the first time since 2015.  
• Robert Morris has won its last 13 home games, a streak that dates back to February of the 2019 campaign.  
• The Colonials are 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2017 when they started 4-0 in the NEC. 
• 59 of RMU's 109 goals this season have been assisted.  Melanie Gandy leads all Colonials with 19 helpers.  
• Graduate attack Mackenzie Gandy passed Ashley Levering '09 earlier this season for first place on the all-time scoring list with 180 career points.
• Gandy is also close to breaking several other program records this season, needing two goals and 11 assists to pass Jenn Collins '09 and Levering for most all time in each category.  Melanie Gandy is just nine assists shy of breaking the record as well, while defender Kelly Colegrove needs 15 caused turnovers to pass Colleen O'Donnell '12 for most in program history. 
• Clio Kerr was named MAC Offensive Player of the Week following her efforts against Kent State and Butler, while Shea McArdle picked up DPOW honors after the win over Akron. Melanie Gandy and Kelly Colegrove swept the most recent weekly awards as well, taking home OPOW and DPOW honors, respectively.  
• Several RMU freshmen 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.  Lilli Hadden scored her first two against Kent State while Olivia Rupert netted against Akron. 
• 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 68 in a row. Junior Jamie Keller has also seen significant minutes in relief this season, including playing 50 of 60 minutes vs. Butler in a ten-save performance.  
• 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 4-0 all-time against Kent State, 2-0 against Akron, 3-0 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

In addition to reports and videos on RMUColonials.com, check out Twitter and Instagram for news and updates throughout the season.