Spring comes early for Robert Morris women’s soccer as 2021 season kicks off Feb 3

The Robert Morris women’s soccer program, much like the men’s program, will be under the direction of a first-year head coach has announced a 10-match schedule featuring all Horizon League contests, as the league prepares for a spring competitive season following the cancellation of its traditional fall campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the direction of Chris Shaw, who replaced longtime Colonials coach and Pittsburgh soccer icon John Kowalski, RMU will face ten of the other eleven Horizon League programs that compete in soccer once apiece, with the exception of Green Bay being the only absence this season.

Eight of their ten scheduled games will be played on Wednesdays in 2021.

In another note of interest, according to its schedule, RMU will play all five home matches at SouthPointe Fieldhouse, as it appears they’re dealing with challenges of maintaining natural grass fields at the North Athletic Complex on its campus in Moon Township.

The Colonials’ season kicks off in exactly two weeks when they host Milwaukee for the first of two straight home games to start the year, facing off against the Panthers in their season opener February 3 before turning around and hosting Northern Kentucky in a showdown with the Norse one week later.

Following the home stand to kick things off, the Colonials then hit the road for a two-match swing against IUPUI and UIC on February 17 and 24 before altering home and away slates the rest of the season.  Home games against Purdue-Fort Wayne, Wright State, and Cleveland State along with road trips to Oakland, Detroit Mercy, and Youngstown State round out the remainder of the 2021 slate for the Colonials.

RMU enters the 2021 spring campaign after a season of change with a new head coach in Shaw as well as a new home in the Horizon League.  Shaw spent the last six years as the head coach at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), compiling an overall record of 66-48-9 (.573) and will look to bring that same success to Moon Township starting in 2021.

The three-girl senior class of Keli Rosensteel (Greensburg Central Catholic), Brittany O’Connell (Norwin), and Sydney Bruckner return to lead RMU in their final seasons, with O’Connell being the top returning scorer from a season ago.

Transfer students Kaoru Hayashi, Courtney Worstell and Kristi Kania (Moon) help to fill out a roster that also includes seven juniors, seven sophomores, and five freshman.  Kania, along with Ylexus Gilliand, Haleigh Finale (South Park), Rachel Fullmer, and Caitlyn Berl (Oakland Catholic) will all make their NCAA debuts for RMU this season.

Other players from the Pittsburgh area include:  Allie Ball (Jr., Chartiers Valley), Bailey Farabaugh (Jr., Bethel Park), Courtney Hurey (Jr., Moon).

Amongst their new Horizon League foes, the Colonials have never faced Detroit Mercy, UIC, or Oakland, before, though they did face off against the Titans in pre-season play a year ago. Youngstown State has been a familiar opponent for RMU as the two squads have squared off 38 times overall and at least once in each of the previous nine seasons.

 

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location
February 3, 2021 (Wednesday)	1:00 p.m.	Home	Milwaukee	Canonsburg, Pa. SouthPointe Fieldhouse
February 10, 2021 (Wednesday)	10:00 a.m.	Home	Northern Kentucky	Canonsburg, Pa. SouthPointe Fieldhouse
February 17, 2021 (Wednesday)	1:00 p.m.	Away	IUPUI	Indianapolis, Ind.
February 24, 2021 (Wednesday)	TBA	Away	UIC	Chicago, Ill.
March 3, 2021 (Wednesday)	1:00 p.m.	Home	Purdue Fort Wayne	Canonsburg, Pa. SouthPointe Fieldhouse
March 10, 2021 (Wednesday)	10:30 a.m.	Away	Oakland	Rochester, Mich.
March 17, 2021 (Wednesday)	1:00 p.m.	Home	Wright State	Canonsburg, Pa. SouthPointe Fieldhouse
March 24, 2021 (Wednesday)	12:00 p.m.	Away	Detroit Mercy	Detroit, Mich.
March 30, 2021 (Tuesday)	1:00 p.m.	Home	Cleveland State	Canonsburg, Pa. SouthPointe Fieldhouse
April 5, 2021 (Monday)	5:00 p.m.	Away	Youngstown State	Youngstown, Ohio