Moon Township, Pa – Behind seven different Colonials netting a goal, the Robert Morris women's lacrosse team secured the season sweep over Youngstown State, with a 12-6 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium in Mid-American Conference action (MAC).

With the win, the Colonials improve to 5-7 overall, with a 3-1 mark in conference action. RMU has now won three consecutive contests against the Penguins. Meanwhile, YSU falls to 4-9 this season, with a 2-2 record in league play.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It was a defensive battle for the opening 13 minutes of the first quarter before junior Lilli Hadden broke the scoring drought after receiving a feed from sophomore Jenna Irwin. With 10 seconds to go in the opening frame, senior Colleen Tifft netted her 100th career point after taking a pass from graduate student Kelsey Nelson and extending the Colonial lead 2-0. RMU stayed red hot in the second quarter, tallying four straight goals to begin the second frame. Senior Jordan Anderson started the streak off an assist from Nelson before Irwin found the back of the net from inside the circle as graduate student Emily Kim was credited with the assist. Sophomore Chelsea Coleman stretched the Colonial lead with a score at the 9:20 mark before Tifft netted her second goal of the half, with 8:30 remaining in the opening 30 minutes. The Penguins avoided the shutout after carding back-to-back scores within a for minute span to trim the RMU lead, 6-2. Nelson capped off her prolific first half after taking a feed from senior Julia Koterwas and giving the Colonials a 7-2 advantage at the break.

In the second half, RMU picked up right where they left off as Tifft and Hadden registered consecutive goals to give the Colonials its largest lead of the afternoon, 9-2. Youngstown State wouldn't go quietly as they responded with three straight scores of their own to cut the RMU advantage. Hadden put that streak to a halt as she found the back of the net with less than a minute remaining to give the Colonials a 10-5 lead after three quarters. In the final frame it was a defensive battle for both squads as only three goals were carded. Tifft continued her historic day with her four score of the afternoon off an assist from Anderson at the 13:50 mark. YSU would tack on another score from Erin Clark before Koterwas ended the scoring with a goal of her own with two minutes remaining.

KEEPIN IT 100
Senior midfielder Colleen Tifft has been a consistent presence for the Colonials as she became just the 17th player in program history to surpass the 100-career point plateau. Tifft tied her career-high with four scores on the afternoon, after totaling six shots, five coming on goal in the victory. She caused a team-high two turnovers, collected two draw controls and a ground ball against the Penguins. Historically, Tifft has been a nightmare for YSU. In seven games against the Guins, the New York native has totaled 22 goals, 16 draw controls. 10 ground balls, 10 caused turnovers, and two assists. In the last five games alone, Tifft has registered four goals in each one of them while posting a .797 shots on goal percentage. She extended her scoring streak to six straight games while posting a team-high 30 points, tied for the team lead in goals (23) and sits second in assists (7).

QUOTABLE
"Colleen's work ethic is second to none," head coach Katrina Silva said. "She does this every day of the week, whether it's practice or game day. It's not surprising that she's prepared for games and gets 100 career points because she works so hard every single day. That's a true inspiration to our team."

"I have such great teammates out here supporting me and allowing me to get those points and getting to those spots to put us in position to score," Tifft said. "The dedication and all the hard work we put in the offseason is paying off and it's really great."

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Robert Morris was defensively stout all afternoon against one of the top offenses in the MAC. The Colonials held the Penguins to its third lowest scoring total of the season as YSU came into today's match leading the conference in goals per contest (12.17) and shots on goal (20.67). Graduate student goalkeeper Jamie Keller carded one of her best performances of the season, posting a season-high .647 save percentage. She collected 11 saves on 23 shots faced while holding the top scoring team in the league to just six markers. It's the third time this season Keller has posted double-digit saves and the 11th time in her career.

Youngstown State came into today's match as the top team in draw controls per game as RMU held the Penguins to just eight on the afternoon, its lowest of the season. Jordan Anderson was dominant in the circle, tallying a team-best five draw controls while carding a goal and an assist during the victory. Chelsea Coleman recorded three draws and two caused turnovers while sophomore Maggie Boyle and Tifft each collected a pair of DC.

QUOTABLE
"It was a great effort and definitely something you want to see today," Silva continued. "We know we didn't play well last week so today we really made sure that we were going to come out and play our game. We did a lot of great things and started to slow the ball down on the offensive end, I would've liked to seen a couple more goals out of those possessions but we'll work on it and get better."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Seven different Colonials found the back of the net, led by Tiffts four scores. Lilli Hadden posted her third hat trick this season and her second consecutive hat trick in the last two games. Kelsey Nelson ended the afternoon with three points, registering a team-high two assists and a score. Jenna Irwin, Jordan Anderson, and Julia Koterwas all carded a score and an assist while Chelsea Coleman found the back of the net. Graduate student Emilie Kim tallied her second consecutive game with an assist.

UP NEXT
RMU hits the road on Saturday, April 15, when it travels to Kent State for a Mid-American Conference, with the opening draw set for 1:00 p.m.

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