Saturday’s MAC Women’s Lacrosse Results
Robert Morris 17, Youngstown State 7
Central Michigan 17, Akron 7
 
Story courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
 
Robert Morris 17, Youngstown State 7
Box Score
 
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team improved to 4-0 in MAC play on the season Saturday with a 17-7 win over the visiting Youngstown State Penguins at Joe Walton Stadium. 

Graduate attack Mackenzie Gandy became the program's all-time leading goalscorer with her 129th career tally, one of two she scored on the afternoon as RMU extended its home win streak to 14 games and moved to 8-2 overall on the season. 

"We got everyone in the game again, which is a big accomplishment for us, making sure it's a total team effort," head coach Katrina Silva said.  "We started with three lines in the midfield and were really happy with the way we were playing, causing pressure and creating turnovers."

The graduate attacker got on the board with her first of the afternoon with just under ten to play in the opening frame, tying the record as part of an 8-1 run to start the game for the Colonials.  

While the Penguins managed to tie things at 1-1 following the opening goal from Clio Kerr, the Colonials soon found their footing offensively, rattling off seven straight goals to take command of the action at the Joe.   

A first-half hat trick from freshman Gianna Anthony including a man-up goal helped set RMU off and running against YSU. 
"Gia came to play today," Silva said. "Right from the opening draw she was ready, so that was great to see." 

Fellow freshman Kathleen Kelly added two of her own as the Colonials took full advantage of their depth in the opening half of action. 
Though YSU would get a few back, Colleen Tifft buried her first of the season with 34 seconds to play before Gandy netted her second of the day with just four seconds left to secure the record and put RMU up 11-4 after 30 minutes of action.  

"I think we had a good run in the middle of the first where you saw us really take advantage of those turnovers and making them into goals," Silva said.  "We had a couple great fast-break looks as well so we need to keep that tempo going." 

Jordan Anderson kept the momentum rolling for Bobby Mo right off the opening draw in the second, beating YSU keeper Elicia Wells with a quick shot from inside the arc after Julia Koterwas passed off the initial attempt on a free-position opportunity. 

Alex Eckert got in on the action following the Anderson tally, picking up her first goal of the year after a ground ball from Lauren Wassell kickstarted a transition opportunity for the Colonials in the midfield.  

RMU would finish with a 42-19 advantage in ground balls on the afternoon, led by Madison Burke and Thalia Zolis with five each as the Colonials continued to utilize their defense-to-offense mentality to control play against YSU. 

Anderson enjoyed another dominant performance on the draw unit, racking up nine draws to go along with a pair of goals in the win for Robert Morris. 

"We're using a lot of kids, we're playing out in pressure and creating turnovers.  I'd like to get the goals against down a bit but all in all we played much crisper today," Silva said. 
 
 
Central Michigan 17, Akron 7
Box Score
 
AKRON, Ohio – Natalie Karlen scored five goals on Saturday as the Central Michigan lacrosse team rolled to a 17-7 Mid-American Conference victory over Akron at the Zips' InfoCision Stadium.
 
It was the Chippewas' second-consecutive convincing MAC road victory after Thursday's 21-14 win at Kent State.
 
CMU improved to 6-5, 4-1 MAC and it kept the Chippewas a step behind first-place Robert Morris (4-0 MAC) in the league. Robert Morris handed CMU its lone MAC loss a week ago.
 
"I'm really proud of the team," CMU coach Sara Tisdale said. "They traveled very well and we had lots of fun this weekend. It was good to be away and really kind of build our chemistry. Really proud of how they composed themselves throughout the weekend and got two MAC wins."
 
Audrey Whiteside added four goals and Hannah Potter had three for CMU, which outshot the Zips, 38-21, and finished with a 24-15 edge in shots on goal. The 38 shots rank as the fifth most in program history.
 
CMU goalkeeper Sierra Savage made eight saves.

Karlen's five-goal game came on the heels of her 13-point effort (10 goals) against Kent State. The 10 goals and 13 points are program records and rank tied for third in NCAA history for a single game.
 
"Natalie tries to take the team on her back a little bit and there are times she can do that, but the more that her teammates are active, the more opportunities she has because the attention is taken away from her," Tisdale said. "You saw that at Kent State. Her ability to score that often was because everybody else stepped up and played very well."
 
Avery Wagnon scored with 19:38 to play in the first half to tie the game, 1-1, and trigger a four-goal CMU run. The Chippewas never trailed after that and then took command by scoring the first seven goals of the second half, extending their lead to 12-3 with under 19 minutes remaining.
 
The Chippewas hit the gas coming out of the break, Tisdale said.
 
"When we don't play fast and play confidently, we don't really expose our strengths," she said. "The first half we had a lot of empty possessions and played slow. The second half, it was really about trusting ourselves and showing our athleticism and pushing the ball. We had a lot of fast-break goals in the second half."
 
The Chippewas are scheduled to play at Detroit Mercy on Saturday, April 10 (7 p.m.) in a MAC game.