MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. / April 20, 2012 – Behind hat trick performances from Colleen O’Donnell and Talia Waskowicz, the Robert Morris women’s lacrosse team edged Wagner 13-12 in Northeast Conference play on Friday afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium.

In a back-and-forth battle that lasted all 60 minutes of regulation, the Colonials (6-10 overall, 4-4 NEC) outshot the Seahawks 40-26 in the contest and jumped out to a five-goal lead to open the day. Defending NEC Rookie of the Week Erin Mossop (Schenectady, N.Y. / Guilderland) would open the game with a goal at 27:24 of the first half before Emma Baukhages (Gambrills, Md. / Indian Creek) and Kristin  Yoviene (Easton, Md. / Saints Peter and Paul) would sandwich two goals between a pair of goals from Courtney Sicinski (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West) to give the Colonials a 5-0 lead in the game’s first ten minutes.

Wagner (6-10, 1-7) would rally with five goals of its own in the next 16 minutes before Jessica Rutherford (Pylesville, Md. / North Harford) and Wagner’s Sam Morin would trade goals in the final three minutes of the first half to send the teams into the break tied at 6-6.

The Seahawks would open the second half with three-straight goals to take their first lead of the day, but Robert Morris would bounce back with a rally of its own. Waskowicz (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) would tally three goals and O’Donnell (Portland, Ore. / St. Mary’s Academy) would add her first of three goals to give the Colonials a four-goal run in the middle of the half, putting RMU up 10-9 at the midpoint of the second stanza. The Seahawks would answer with goals from Jillian Maloney and Carolyn Clark at 13:05 and 8:52, respectively, before O’Donnell tied the game at 11-11 with 8:44 left to play.

O’Donnell’s goal would kick off the sixth and final scoring stretch of the game as the Colonials railed off three-straight goals to go up 13-11. Mossop notched her second of the day with 3:56 left to play while O’Donnell would cap the hat trick with the eventual game winner with 1:17 left to play. Maloney, one of two Seahawks to tally hat tricks in the game, would cut the lead to 13-12 with 52 seconds remaining, but the Colonials were able to run out the clock and pick up their second-straight win.

Kaitlin Pentz (Sykesville, Md. / Century) picked up the win for RMU, making 10 saves. Morgan Roach took the loss for Wagner with 18 saves. O’Donnell led Robert Morris with five points after adding two assists to the hat-trick performance. The senior also posted a game-high five caused turnovers and five draw controls. Waskowicz, who leads RMU with 34 goals and 38 points this season, led the team with six draw controls. Four different Colonials tallied four ground balls in the game.

Robert Morris closes out the regular season with a 1 p.m. contest against LIU Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium.

-Robert Morris University-