GAME 18
#1 RMU (9-8 / 7-1 #MAC) vs #4 Youngstown State (6-11 / 4-4 #MAC)
Thursday, May 4 | 1:00 p.m.
Joe Walton Stadium (3,000) | Moon Township, Pa.
 
TV: ESPN+
Gero Von Dehn (pxp)
Twitter: @RMUWLacrosse
Instagram: rmuwlacrosse

Opening Draw

• The Robert Morris women's lacrosse team opens the Mid-American Conference (MAC) tournament when it hosts No. 4 seed Youngstown State on Thursday, May 4, at Joe Walton Stadium.
• The Colonials wrapped up its regular season in dramatic fashion, erasing a six-goal deficit to capture a 12-11 victory over Central Michigan to earn a share of the regular season conference title.
• After a draw control win by senior Colleen Tifft, the Colonials set up Chelsea Coleman in an iso situation. As Coleman looked to set up her defender, she found a cutting Tifft who bounced her shot to the top left of the net to give RMU the win.
• Robert Morris was a completely different squad in the second half, outscoring the Chippewas 9-3. The Colonials opened the third quarter with three consecutive scores, two of them coming from Koterwas.
• A pair of seniors enjoyed productive days as Julia Koterwas tied her career-high in points and goals. She paced the Colonials with six points while carding four scores and two assists on the afternoon.
• Koterwas fired six shots, all coming on goal while collecting a ground ball. It's her second hat trick of the season and the sixth time this year she has recorded two or more assists.
• Tifft posted three points during the win, all coming from goals. She fired seven shots on net while grabbing two draw controls and a ground ball. It's her seventh hat trick of the season and her first game-winning goal of the year.
• Chelsea Coleman tied for second on the team with three points after carding two scores and one assist. She tied for the team lead with five draw controls while causing two turnovers and collecting two ground balls.
• Jenna Irwin posted a pair of scores while Lilli Hadden found the back of the net once and registered an assist. Kelsey Nelson recorded an assist while Jordan Anderson collected five draw controls in the win.
• Graduate student goalkeeper Jamie Keller collected nine saves on 25 shots faced while posting a .529 saves percentage.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE LINKS
LIVE STATS
VIDEO
TICKETS
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The All-Time Series (Youngstown State) – It'll be the third meeting this season and the second time in consecutive years that the Colonials and Penguins meet in the MAC semifinals. On Thursday, it'll be the eighth all-time meeting as RMU holds a 6-1 record in the series while winning the last three matches. The Colonials swept the season series after capturing a 12-6 victory in April (4/12). 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.

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.

Scouting The Penguins – Youngstown State enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed along with a 6-11 overall record and a 4-4 mark in conference play. The Penguins fell at Kent State, 18-16 as the Golden Flashes scored three goals in the fourth quarter to capture the victory. Ali Korin led the Penguins with five goals on the day to record her sixth hat trick in the Penguins' last eight games. Korin also led all players with four ground balls in the contest. Jordan Miller scored four goals for the second game in a row to mark her fourth hat trick this season. Miller and Korin each added an assist to their impressive performances. Erin Clark delivered a four-point performance with two goals and two assists. Ally Garrett also scored two goals in the contest while Tristen Chang, Abby Yesko, and Aryss Lindsey each scored a goal a-piece.

Four Penguins were named to the All-MAC Second Team, announced by the league office on Wednesday. Ali Korin, Erin Clark, Natalie Calandra-Ryan, and Aryss Lindsey all earned conference laurels. Korin has scored 40 goals and made 12 assists for 52 points on the year. In MAC play, she has scored 28 goals and added seven assists for 35 points. Her 28 goals against conference foes rank third out of all players in the conference as she has averaged 4.00 goals per league game. She also has averaged 5.00 points per game in MAC play, ranking third in the conference. Clark leads the MAC in assists per game in conference play. She has made 14 assists in eight conference games to lead the MAC with a 1.75 average. Clark leads Youngstown State in overall points with 56, scoring 33 goals and making 23 assists on the year. In points per game, she is tied for fourth in the MAC with a 3.88 average in conference games.

Calandra-Ryan ranks in the top three of the MAC in numerous overall statistical categories. Due to injury, she played 11 games on the season, but it only took her 11 games to score 35 goals and make 13 assists for 48 points while also recording 66 draw controls. She ranks second in the conference in average points per game with 4.36 and also ranks third in goals per game with a 3.18 average. Lindsey leads the Penguins with 24 caused turnovers on the season. She ranks fourth in the MAC in caused turnovers with a 1.41 average per game this season. Lindsey has also grabbed 26 ground balls and tallied nine draw controls on the year.

Major Award Winner - In a vote of Mid-American Conference (MAC) head coaches, Robert Morris women's lacrosse junior defender Kathleen Kelly was selected as the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. Kelly is one of five Colonials that brought in all-conference laurels this season. Kelly, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, earned All-MAC First Team honors while being just one of six Colonials to start in all 17 games this year. She has helped anchor RMU's defense while garnering the top player on the opposing team for the majority of the season. The Anderson product ranks fourth on the team with 10 caused turnovers while causing a turnover in five consecutive games earlier this season. Kelly has collected 11 ground balls and one draw control for the Colonials.

Against conference foes, she ranks third on the team with eight caused turnovers while collecting six ground balls. Kelly caused two turnovers in a pair of contests while tallying two ground balls twice this season.

All-MAC Laurels - In addition to Kelly, three other Colonials earned All-MAC First Team accolades while one earned Second Team honors. Senior midfielder Colleen Tifft was selected to the All-MAC First Team for the first time in her career. She leads the team and sits seventh in the conference with 46 total points while sitting 10th with 2.71 points per game. Earlier this season, Tifft became just the 17th player in program history to surpass 100 career points. Her 35 goals rank her second on the team and tied for eighth in the league while averaging over two goals per contest. The Liverpool, N.Y. native has posted seven hat tricks while carding four goals in a game three times this year. She scored a goal in seven straight games earlier this season while registering a point in 16 of 17 games for RMU. Tifft was tabbed MAC Offensive Player of the Week once during the campaign while collecting her third All-MAC honor in her career.

Joining Tifft on the All-MAC First Team is sophomore midfielder Chelsea Coleman and junior midfielder Mackenzie Bell. Coleman paces the Colonials and sits seventh in the MAC with 36 goals this season while averaging 2.12 scores per game. She sits second on the team with 42 points while also collecting six assists. The Reisterstown, Md., native has scored a goal in 16 straight games while posting six hat tricks during the 2023 campaign. She leads the team and sits sixth in the league with 19 caused turnovers while averaging 1.12 per contest. Her 43 draw controls sit second on the team while her 24 ground balls sit third. Coleman was selected MAC Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday and has earned her first career All-MAC honor.

A native of Catonsville, Md., Bell enjoyed a productive campaign anchoring the Colonials defense. She ranks second on the team with 17 caused turnovers while causing a turnover in four consecutive games earlier this season. Bell has caused three or more turnovers three times this season for RMU. Her 20 ground balls rank fourth on the team as she collected two or more ground balls in six games. She also has tallied eight draw controls while carding a score this season. Bell earned MAC Defensive Player of the Week once this season while earning her first career All-MAC laurel.

Additionally, senior midfielder Jordan Anderson was selected to the All-MAC Second Team. Anderson paces the team and sits second in the MAC with 81 draw controls. She's averaging 4.76 draws per game which ranks second in the conference as well. The Prior Lake, Minnesota native has posted double-digit draw control wins in three contests, while carding a season-high 11 in a pair of matches. Her 10 caused turnovers ranks fourth on the team as she has collected 12 ground balls. Anderson has registered 12 points on the year, with six goals and sixth assists. This is her third career All-MAC honor while being tabbed Second Team twice.

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