YOUNGSTOWN, Oh. - The Robert Morris women's lacrosse team pushed its conference winning streak to 15 games Wednesday with a 18-7 win over the Youngstown State Penguins at Farmers National Bank Field. The victory lifts RMU to 5-0 in MAC play and 5-5 overall.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

The Colonials took a 9-4 lead into the half Wednesday thanks in large part to the junior duo of Julia Koterwas and Colleen Tifft, who combined for five of RMU's first nine goals in the opening two quarters of action.  After senior Kelsey Nelson opened the scoring with just over nine minutes to play in the first, Tifft managed to beat YSU keeper Savannah Clarke twice in the span of 2:03 to push RMU's lead to 3-1. Koterwas stepped up with two straight goals of her own to give RMU a comfortable 5-1 lead, and would complete her hat trick before the opening 20 minutes were up with RMU leading by five.  Three caused turnovers by the Colonials in the first including two from Mackenzie Bell helped the Colonials keep YSU out of their offensive rhythm while RMU went to work building its lead.

JUNIOR PARTNERS

All four members of RMU's junior class took over the game Wednesday against the Penguins, combining for 12 of the Colonials' 18 goals on the day.  Tifft led the way with four tallies, setting a new career single game high in the process, while Koterwas recorded a monster day of her own, going off for a hat trick and three assists to set a new career best with six points.  Jerica Obee potted three and added two helpers for a career-best five points, while Jordan Anderson scored twice with an assist and grabbed an incredible ten draw controls in the midfield for the Colonials in the victory.

TOO HOT TO HANDLE

RMU's 18 goals are the most scored in a game so far in 2022, and the most they've scored since putting up 21 against Detroit Mercy on May 6, 2021 in their regular season finale last year. Ten different Colonials scored a goal Wednesday and four girls finished with multi-goal performances. Ten of RMU's 18 goals were assisted, the most of any game this season. Six Colonials recorded a helper, led by Koterwas with three and Obee and Lilli Hadden with two.

COMPLETE EFFORT

RMU's dominance was not just limited to the scoreboard Wednesday.  The Colonials enjoyed an impressive level of dominance in nearly every major statistical category, including a 35-13 edge in shots on goal, a 24-12 advantage in ground balls, and a 23-5 edge in draw controls.  Anderson (10) and Madison Griffin (8) led the way for the Colonial draw control unit, while Mackenzie Bell's six ground balls were the most of any player on either team.  The Colonials also limited themselves to just 12 turnovers on the day while YSU coughed up 19.

NEXT UP

The Colonials close out non-conference play Sunday when the Cincinnati Bearcats come to Joe Walton Stadium for a noon showdown.