Akron, Ohio – Scoring a season-high nine goals in the first quarter, the Robert Morris women's lacrosse team captured a 17-5 victory in its final regular season road trip at Akron in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play on Wednesday evening.

With the win, the Colonials improve to 6-1 in conference action while holding an 8-8 record overall. RMU has now won all six meetings in the series. Meanwhile, the Zips fall to 2-15 overall, with a 1-6 mark in league play.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It didn't take long for the Colonials to jump out to an early lead as they netted the first six goals in less than five minutes to begin the contest. Sophomore Chelsea Coleman opened the scoring after taking a feed from senior Jordan Anderson before junior Lilli Hadden found the back of the net off a pass from senior Colleen Tifft. Tifft netted her first goal of the evening before assisting Coleman on her second score of the quarter at the 12:02 mark. Less than 40 second later, Tifft found the back of the net for the second time in the opening frame as classmate Julia Koterwas capped the scoring with a goal of her own. Akron would get on the board at the 5:44 mark before scores from Coleman and sophomore Jenna Irwin stretched the RMU lead, 8-1. The Zips responded with a marker of their own before Tifft completed the hat trick in the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, each team mirrored one another, trading goals as Coleman completed the hat trick with her third score of the half. After an Akron goal in the seventh minute, Hadden beat goalkeeper Hannah Sanders to extend the Colonial lead at the half, 11-3. Tifft opened the second half with another score before the Zips netted consecutive goals to trim the RMU advantage. Over the next 11 minutes, the Colonials would score five consecutive goals while blanking Akron in the final frame.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
A pair of Colonials enjoyed career days against the Zips as Colleen Tifft and Chelsea Coleman each posted a career high six points in the victory. Tifft tied her career best with four scores while carding a season high two assists on Wednesday. She fired seven shots, all coming on goal and collected a ground ball. It's the third time this season the senior midfielder has netted four goals in a game while tallying her sixth hat trick of the year. Coleman recorded a career high five goals while collecting an assist. She fired five shots with all five finding the back of the net as she also collected four ground balls and caused a turnover. The sophomore midfielder leads the team with 34 goals on the season while posting her sixth hat trick of the campaign.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Robert Morris gave Akron problems all evening as they surrendered their least amount of goals all season. The Colonials held the Zips to just 24 total shots while 12 of them came on goal. Graduate goalkeeper Jamie Keller was stout between the pipes, collecting seven saves and registering her second best save percentage of the year (.583). She corralled three saves in both the second and third quarter while facing 14 total shots in that span. As a team, RMU caused five turnovers from five different players while collecting 23 ground balls. Graduate student Kelsey Nelson paced the team with five ground balls while causing a turnover and netting a score. Koterwas carded three ground balls, with a caused turnover and posted three points on the evening. She found the back of the net twice while tallying an assist as well.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Lilli Hadden finished the contest with three points, posting two scores and one assist. She collected a ground ball while placing three shots on net. Jordan Anderson was excellent in the circle for RMU, tying her season-high with 11 draw controls while tallying two assists. It's the third time this season she has recorded double-digit draws and the second time posting 11. Jenna Irwin, Emilie Kim, and Maggie Boyle all netted a goal while Irwin and Kim each placed three shots on net.

UP NEXT
RMU concludes the regular season when it hosts Central Michigan on Saturday, April 29, for Senior Day, with the opening draw scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at Joe Walton Stadium.

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