West Palm Beach, Fla. - From the opening draw to the final buzzer, it was the Colonials game all the way as the Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team defeated Davidson College, 19-11, in their final game of the Spring Fling Tournament in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Thursday afternoon. Robert Morris manufactured their highest scoring game ever in the 19-11 victory as well as avenging an 18-5 loss against Davidson from the previous season.

Junior Josephine Zizic (Chicago, Ill. / Culver Academy) led the offense, scoring three goals and adding two assists for a five point day. Sophomores Jenn Collins (Edgewater, Md. / South River), Ashley Levering (Glenwood, Md. / Glenelg), Kara Blakeley (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland), Freshman Courtney Borsody (Germantown, Md. / Seneca Valley) and Junior Bethany Mahaffey (Edgewater, Md. / Annapolis Area Christian) each recorded multiple-goal games. Collins tallied four goals while Levering notched three with an assist. Blakeley and Borsody each had two goals and an assist while Mahaffey had two goals.

Juniors Pam Deguffroy (Irwin, Pa. / Norwin), Emily Tomlinson (Springfield, Va. / West Springfield), Meredith Milsak (Brighton, Mich. / Brighton) and Freshman Ali Harris (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shady Side Academy) had a hand in the scoring as well. Deguffroy and Tomlinson each picked up a goal and an assist while Milsak had a goal and Harris with the helper.

The Colonials (2-3) didn't take long to set the tempo of the game as Zizic scored the games opening goal at 29:45 mark. From that point on Robert Morris kept the offense coming, adding six more goals to take a commanding, 7-0, lead. Davidson answered the Colonial barrage with their first goal of the game at 7:49. Both teams traded goals in the final six minutes, with RMU taking the, 10-3, advantage into half time.

In the second frame the Wildcats came out firing first as Emily Diefendorf connected on a free-position shot to pull her team within six. The first half lead proved to be too much to overcome as the Colonials outscored a pesky Davidson team, 9-8, in the second half to take the game, 19-11.

RMU never trailed in the game that looked more like a track meet with both teams taking the ball up the field. The Colonial defense led by Sophomores Mary Kate Egan (Lynch, Md. / Kent) and Tori Gargon (Colombia, Md. / River Hill) each had three caused turnovers. The two defenders combined for nine ground balls in the match with Gargon having five and Egan with four.

Freshman Ashley Walsh (Fairfax Station, Va. / Lake Braddock) proved to be the deciding factor in goal as the rookie made 16 saves en route to her first win of the season. Davidson out-shot the Colonials, 32-29, while holding the advantage in ground balls, 28-25.

As the spring break trip concludes, the Colonials head north next week to take on Canisius on March 15 in Buffalo, N.Y. Game time is slated for a 4:00 p.m. start.

2007-03-09