MOON TOWNSHIP– Joe Walton Stadium was the site for Robert Morris women’s lacrosse (0-2) today as they hosted Canisius (2-0). The teams braved the elements as there were gusts of wind up to 37 miles per hour and some snow in the first half.

Besides the weather, the Colonials were also battling themselves in the 16-11 loss.

In Robert Morris’ two games so far this year they have struggled in the first quarter. They went up 2-1 early but then gave up five unanswered goals in the final 7:15 of the first quarter.

Coach Katrina Silva discussed the rough starts after the game.

“We’re young and when one bad thing happens we have a hard time spinning ourselves back into the right direction,” she said. “I don’t think it was a slow start but more of a spiraling effect.”

At halftime, the Colonials dug themselves into an 8-3 hole.

The Colonials did regain momentum at the start of the second half with two goals, but Canisius responded with another four goals.

The fourth quarter included a lot of back and forth between the two teams. The Colonials built a comeback effort with the help of Gianna Anthony and her 2 goals in the fourth quarter adding to her total of 4 on the day.

Coach Silva was very proud of Anthony and the rest of the team’s effort.

“[Gianna Anthony] had a crushing effort today super proud of her,” Silva said. “Maddie [Griffin], I’m asking so many things from her. Katy Kelley did some nice things. We said from the start, we’re not going to be a single superhero team.”

The Colonials made it close when Mackenzie Bell scored with 2:27 remaining, but in the last minute, Canisius’ Skylar McArthur scored to seal the deal for the Golden Griffins.

This is the first loss at Joe Walton for Robert Morris women’s lacrosse since falling to Liberty in 2019.

The Colonials’ next game is Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. against Detroit Mercy to start their MAC Conference play.

Coach Silva knows that the MAC games hold a little more meaning than some of the non-conference affairs they have scheduled.

“You would like to win every game, but you have to win the ones that matter. We’ve got to win the MAC games. Those MAC games are the ones that send you to the NCAA tournament.”