Youngstown, Ohio – The Robert Morris women's lacrosse team held off a late comeback at Youngstown State, securing a 12-10 victory at Farmers National Bank Field in Mid-American Conference (MAC) action on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Colonials improve to 3-6 overall, with a 1-0 mark in MAC play. RMU has now won all three meetings in Youngstown. Meanwhile, the Penguins fall to 2-8 overall this season, with a 0-1 mark in league action.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Robert Morris came out firing on all cylinders, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first five minutes of the opening frame. Senior
Colleen Tifft opened the scoring for the Colonials, executing a man-up free-position shot in the 14th minute. Less than a minute later, classmate
Julia Koterwas fired a shot from the circle and found the back of the net, 2-0. In the 12th minute, graduate student
Kelsey Nelson took a feed from Koterwas and stretched the RMU lead with her fifth goal of the season. Tifft increased the Colonial lead after taking a pass from junior
Gia Anthony and netted her second goal of the quarter at the 10-minute mark. Youngstown State got on the board before Anthony found Nelson, who located the back of the net on the man-up opportunity, 5-1 RMU. The Penguins registered consecutive goals to trim the Colonial lead before Tifft recorded a hat trick with her third goal of the quarter at the 2:15 mark. YSU found the back of the net right before the end of the quarter as the Colonials held a 6-4 lead after one.
In the second quarter, Robert Morris picked up where they left off, netting four straight goals to begin the quarter. Nelson completed the hat trick just 40 seconds in before Tifft netted her fourth goal of the half, 8-4. After a yellow card was distributed to the Penguins, Koterwas took a feed from Tifft and beat goalkeeper Jacqueline Cornell for her second goal of the half. Anthony capped off the scoring, finding the back of the net for her ninths score of the year. YSU continued to battle, scoring two straight goals to cut into the RMU advantage, 10-6. The two squads went almost three minutes without a score before sophomore
Chelsea Coleman extended her scoring streak as the Colonials held an 11-6 lead at the break.
THE TABLES HAVE TURNED
In the second half, the rules were reversed as Youngstown State was a completely different team in the final 30 minutes. The Penguins held the Colonials scoreless in the third quarter while forcing them into seven turnovers. YSU netted three goals in the period to trim the Colonials lead to 11-9 entering the final frame. They recorded five total shots in the quarter, with four of them coming on goal. Robert Morris registered just four shots after carding 17 total shots in the first half.
FOUR-BANGER
Senior midfielder
Colleen Tifft enjoyed a prolific day for the Colonials, tallying a career-high five points on the afternoon. She tied her career-high with four scores and added an assist in the win. Tifft carded a season-high and a team leading eight shots, all coming on goal. She paced RMU with six draw controls while collecting three ground balls and caused two turnovers. The New York native now leads the team with 21 total points and seven assists while sitting second with 14 scores on the year.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Five different Colonials found the back of the net as
Kelsey Nelson carded her second career hat trick in the victory. She tallied three goals in the first half after peppering the net with four shots, all coming on goal.
Julia Koterwas finished the afternoon with three points after netting a pair of scores and tallied an assist. She fired four shots on goal while grabbing two ground balls and caused a turnover.
Chelsea Coleman found the back of the net twice as
Gia Anthony led the team with a pair of assists and netted a score. Anthony also paced the squad with four caused turnovers while snatching a pair of ground balls. Junior attack
Lilli Hadden grabbed three ground balls and caused a turnover on Saturday.
Graduate student goalkeeper
Jamie Keller collected nine saves during the victory while facing 20 total shots. She tallied six saves in the first half as YSU fired 12 shots on goal in the first 30 minutes. Keller posted a .474 saves percentage on the afternoon, her second best this season.
UP NEXT
Robert Morris returns to action on Wednesday, April 5, when it hosts Kent State for a conference match, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
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