Annapolis, Md. ? April 14, 2009 ? A strong second-half performance by Navy, took the Midshipmen past the Robert Morris University Colonials, 14-6, on Tuesday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Seniors Jillian Howley (East Northport / Northport) and Jennifer Collins (Edgewater, Md. / South River) led RMU with two goals apiece, while senior Ashley Levering (Glenwood, Md. / Glenelg) put up her usual strong performance with two helpers. Senior Emily Tomlinson (Springfield, Va. / West Springfield) and junior Ali Gibbons (Candia, N.H. / Manchester) scored one goal each in the loss and sophomore Karly O'Brien (Rockville, Md. / Our Lady of Good Counsel) led the Colonials with four ground balls and one caused turnover.
Robert Morris and Navy fought through nearly seven minutes in the opening half, with neither team sending off a quality shot. Finally at 6:15 Navy got the first score on the board when Mary Ruttum received a pass from Madison Bell and connected with the RMU net for the score.
The Colonials were able to even up the score, 1-1, when Levering passed the ball to Howley, who was waiting in front of the Navy net to score at 13:02. However, Navy quickly took back the lead when it scored three goals in a 35 second span.
The Colonials regained momentum at 15:25 when Ashley Trombetta (Sykesville, Md. / Century) pushed the ball up the field to Collins, who beat Navy goalkeeper Elaina Ponchione for her 24th goal of the season.
Less than a minute later Navy and Robert Morris traded free-position goals within 37 seconds of each other to bring the score to 5-3. Dani Vivonetto captured the free-position goal for Navy, while Howley grabbed one for Robert Morris, marking her second goal of the game. Robert Morris brought the score within one at 17:13 when Tomlinson netted her first goal of the game off of Levering's second assist of the game.
Navy finished out the first-half when Caitlin Mandrin Hill scored with 1:23 left on the clock to set the score at 6-4 going into the final half.
Navy dominated the second-half and scored five unanswered goals throughout the first 16 minutes to bring its lead to 11-4. During the five-goal surge Erin Rawlick scored back-to-back goals, marking her second and third points of the day.
Robert Morris was finally able to score a goal in the second-half when Collins found her way to the net for her second goal of the game at 16:41. However, at 17:24 Rawlick found the back of RMU's net for the fourth time that day, which was followed by another Navy goal with 8:49 left on the clock to bring the score to 13-5.
Both teams tallied one more goal each before the end of regulation to finalize the score 14-6.
Navy did the majority of its damage on free-position shots, as it connected on six-of-seven attempts, while Robert Morris was only successful on one-of-four attempts.
The Colonials will look to bounce back on Friday, April 17 when the squad heads to Loretto, Pa. to take on conference foe Saint Francis (Pa.) at 7:00 p.m.
