LEWISBURG, Pa. – After RMU women’s lacrosse (2-1) suffered their first loss of the season on Wednesday against the Liberty University Flames (3-2), the Colonials will be looking to continue their strong start to the 2019 season against the Bucknell University Bison (1-3) on Saturday despite the loss taken. The Colonials will also be looking for their first program win against the Bison, as Robert Morris has not been able to win against them ever since they started playing each other in the 2017 regular season.
Recapping RMU
RMU’s loss on Saturday was no doubt a heartbreaker, but RMU’s Mackenzie Gandy was able to deliver her second hat trick for the Colonials this season, her first being against the Canisius Golden Griffins (0-3), as she scored three straight goals for Robert Morris. As mentioned previously, the Colonials will be looking for their first win in program history against the Bucknell University Bison when they play each other this weekend.
In the most recent game against Liberty, Robert Morris had just more than half of Liberty’s shots with 21, while Liberty had 40 shots. Liberty had more of a focus on the goal on Wednesday when they had made 28 shots on goal compared to Robert Morris’ 17 shots on goal.
On the defensive side, Robert Morris made 18 saves compared to Liberty’s 10 saves. Robert Morris caused Liberty to turnover 15 times, whereas Liberty caused Robert Morris to turnover 19 times.
Scouting Bucknell
Bucknell is coming off a shutout performance against the Howard University Bison (0-1), winning the game by a whopping 23-0 this past Wednesday. Coming into this game against Robert Morris, Bucknell currently stands in a three-way tie for last place in the Patriot League with American University and Holy Cross College with an overall record of 1-3 in non-conference play.
In their last game against Howard, Bucknell put the Bison out of their misery with 31 shots made compared with Howards’s nine shots. Bucknell caused more pain to Howard with 24 shots on goal. The Howard Bison only made four shots on goal.
On the defensive end, saves barely even existed in this game. Despite the shutout, Bucknell, surprisingly, made more saves than Howard with just four saves. Howard only had one save in the entire course of the game.
Players to Watch:
Mackenzie Gandy (RMU): Gandy was able to score her second hat trick of the season for Robert Morris against the Flames. Through the first three games of the season for Mackenzie Gandy, Gandy has scored three goals with two assists for a total of five points. Gandy also has six shots with a .538 shot percentage and six shots on goal in the very short-lived RMU lacrosse season so far. If Gandy is able to get more playing time this season, she could be something special for the Colonials.
Meghan Crouse (RMU): Crouse was able to pick up one goal, one point and three shots in RMU’s season opening game against Bucknell in the 2018 season. In 2019, however, Crouse has only played in the most recent game against Liberty University, so Crouse doesn’t have much to show for so far. If Crouse is deployed against the Bison this season as she was last season, Crouse is someone that may be able to bring the winning goal against the Bison.
Eve Calabria (Bucknell): Calabria is the one player that Bucknell has been able to rely on the most, due to the fact that she has played and started all four of the Bison’s games and the combination of the six goals she scored, the five assists she has, the 11 points she has, 12 shots, the .500 shot percentage and the 10 shots on goal. In the most recent game against Howard, she scored one goal with two assists for a total of three points and made one shot, being a shot on goal. Very much expecting that Bucknell will deploy her against Robert Morris, RMU will need to prepare for what she brings to the table.
Audrey Walsh (Bucknell): Walsh has played in and started all four games for the Bison and coming into the game against RMU, she brings four goals scored, one assist, five points, 10 shots, a .400 shot percentage and five shots on goal. In the most recent game against Howard, she scored two of the many 23 goals with zero assists for a total of two points. Two shots, both being shots on goal were made into the net for the Bison. As someone who is following a close track with Calabria, the Colonials will need to watch out for her in the match.
Prediction
I predict the Colonials to rebound from their loss against the Liberty University Flames to come back and win the game against the Bison 12-8. With the power of the Gandy twins coming hand-in-hand, this is a game that Robert Morris can easily rebound from, especially how young the 2019 season is.
