MOON TOWNSHIP– It wouldn’t be a Robert Morris women’s lacrosse game day without freezing temperatures, which proved to be true for the Robert Morris Colonials (0-2) as they looked to battle the familiar foe in Cincinnati Bearcats (1-2) in their home opener for the 2024 season.
This was the teams’ fourth meeting in the last four years. The Bearcats would continue winning as they kept the Colonials offense ice cold for 60 minutes of play and took home a 15-0 victory.
It is the first time the Colonials have been shutout since facing Notre Dame in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
The Colonials struggled with a first half of mistakes from the opening draw. After a save from goalkeeper Sydney Riker the Colonials would turn it over where Cincinnati would capitalize on this mistake and wouldn’t look back.
The Bearcats offense was coming off either Camryn Callaghan’s or Lauren Ottensmeyer’s stick. In last year’s matchup, where the Bearcats prevailed by a score of 24-9, the two hung up five goals a piece and would once again duplicate this result, scoring 11 of the 15 goals in today’s match.
Ottensmeyer, the Missouri native, has found her best play at the Colonials’ expense. She has recorded 18 goals on 25 shots in five games against Robert Morris.
On the other side of the field, the Colonial’s offensive woes were noticeable from start to finish. The team finished the day with 24 turnovers and would muster only four shots on goal, all of which came in the second half. The Colonials could not find their way to the middle of Bearcats’ zone defense, and the lack of drive left the offense sputtering and flustered.
The road doesn’t get any easier for the Colonials as they will host Boston College, which has finished national runner-ups five times since 2017. The Eagles are currently sitting second in the nation. The opening draw will be at 1 pm Thursday at Joe Walton Stadium.
