The Robert Morris women’s lacrosse team took the field of Joe Walton Stadium on a cold and windy Friday afternoon against Sacred Heart in its first Northeast Conference game of the season.

RMU, who was unbeaten on campus coming into this game, extended its home winning streak to five games by knocking off the Pioneers, 11-9.

The Colonials came out strong, scoring a goal in the first two minutes of the first half. The tally was scored by junior Kristin Yoviene, who had four of Robert Morris’ goals.

“Kristin is a great player and a great leader for our team,” said head coach Katy Phillips. “She is face guarded a lot so she steps back a lot and makes her teammates look good, which they do, but once you take your eyes off her for a second, she’s in the cage and scoring goals.”

Fast-paced was the appropriate term for this game as both teams shared goals, turnovers,  and penalties. After the quick goal by the Colonials, the Pioneers tightened up and netted two unanswered in the cage.

Luckily, the Colonials had been in this situation before and didn’t fret.

In fact, they did the exact opposite and showed Sacred Heart that they deserved to win this game. With diving goals and good saves by the senior goalie Kaitlin Pentz, the Colonials pulled ahead.

The Pioneers helped with a couple turnovers, one of which turned into a goal by the sophomore Emily Jamison.

Amidst all the turnovers and battles, both teams went into huddles at the end of 25 minutes with the score tied at seven.

In the second frame, the Colonials’ defense held the Pioneers to just two goals in 25 minutes. Pentz also added to the defensive wall, becoming a barrier herself in the cage and making save after save for the Colonials.

While the defense did their job, the offense was firing on all cylinders. Getting goals by Jessica Rutherford, Yoviene, Lauren Roberts, and Emily Jamison, RMU took the lead early and never looked back. Along with spectacular scoring, the Colonials chewed up nearly half of the clock on their offensive side.

At the end of the final buzzer, the Colonials headed back to their dorms with a well deserved win under their belt and a 1-0 start in NEC play.

“I think it’s great that we can start out positive in the NEC,” Phillips said with a smile. “We were saying that the non-conference games will make us better for our conference play and we showed it today.”