Moon Township, Pa – The Robert Morris women's lacrosse team fell short of a comeback against Kent State, dropping a 13-10 decision in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play on Wednesday afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium.

With the loss, the Colonials slip to 3-7 overall, with a 1-1 mark in conference action. Meanwhile, the Golden Flashes improve to 5-6 this season, behind a 2-0 record in league play while earning their first victory in the series.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It took just 27 seconds for RMU to get on the board as senior Colleen Tifft opened the scoring with a goal from the right wing. Kent State would answer with consecutive goals to take an early 2-1 lead. In the ninth minute, sophomore Chelsea Coleman knotted the score and extended her goal streak with a score from inside the circle before the Golden Flashes answered at the 6:20 mark with a goal from Kenzie Sklar. Junior Gia Anthony found the back of the net for her 10th marker of the season before Kent State regained the lead and held a 4-3 advantage after the opening frame. It was a low scoring second quarter as graduate student Kelsey Nelson netted her first score of the contest to bring the score back to even, 4-4. The Golden Flashes would tally two straight goals to hold a 6-4 advantage at intermission.

In the second half, Robert Morris looked to chip into the Kent State lead as junior Lilli Hadden found Coleman, who netted her second goal of the afternoon. The Golden Flashes would stretch their lead with three consecutive goals in less than a five minutes span to hold a 9-5 advantage. At the 5:38 mark, sophomore Jenna Irwin took a feed from senior Julia Koterwas, who beat goalkeeper Madison Flannigan to cut into the deficit. Kent State answered with a score in the fifth minute to extend its lead while leading 10-6 after three quarters.

GOING DOWN SWINGING
Entering the final frame, the Colonials trailed by four but would not go down without a fight. Coleman opened the scoring in the fourth quarter after taking a pass from Koterwas before Tifft executed her free-position opportunity to trim the lead, 10-8. Kent State would mirror the Colonials as they netted consecutive scores to expand its lead with 7:09 remaining. RMU answered with consecutive goals of their own as Nelson connected with Hadden on a man-up opportunity in the sixth minute. Just over a minute later, Nelson carded her second goal of the afternoon on a free-position opportunity, 12-10. After a yellow card was distributed to RMU, Kent State answered with the dagger, with less than a minute remaining.

CONTINUING THE STREAK
A trio of Colonials have kept their streaks alive. Chelsea Coleman has scored in nine consecutive games for RMU while carding her third hat trick of the season. She leads the team with 19 goals while sitting second with 21 total points. After being named offensive player of the week on Tuesday, Colleen Tifft continued to stay steady for RMU. She has scored in four straight contests while scoring two or more goals in three consecutive games. Tifft leads the team with 23 total points and sits behind Coleman with 16 scores. Gia Anthony extends her scoring streak to six straight games after netting her 10th goal of the season against the Golden Flashes. She now sits tied for third on the team in scores.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Six different Colonials found the back of the net, led by the hat trick from Coleman. Kelsey Nelson finished with a team-leading three points after netting two scores and collecting an assist on three shots. Tifft found the back of the net twice on four shots while winning a pair of draw controls. Lilli Hadden tallied two total points, with a goal and an assist while grabbing a team-high three ground balls. Jordan Anderson registered a score on two shots while collecting two draw controls.

RMU used a pair of goalkeepers against the Golden Flashes as Jamie Keller got the start. She finished with four saves on 13 shots faced while recording a .400 save percentage. Sophomore Sydney Riker played just under 33 minutes for the Colonials, collecting five saves on 18 shots faced and registered a .417 save percentage.

UP NEXT
RMU hits the road as it travels to Detroit Mercy on Saturday, April 8, for a conference match beginning at 4:00 p.m.

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