Robert Morris women remain unbeaten; top Delaware St. 5-1

Photo courtesy Robert Morris Athletics

from Robert Morris University Athletic Department report

RMU women’s soccer team stayed unbeaten on the 2022 season and earned its second consecutive victory Thursday with a 5-1 victory over Delaware State at the North Athletic Complex. The Colonials improved to 4-0-2 (.833) overall on the year with the triumph.

RMU scored a pair of goals in the first half, but the Hornets stung at 53:17 when Gabriella Cabrera lifted a shot that hit the far left post and bounced into the goal, cutting the lead for the Colonials to 2-1. RMU responded less than seven minutes later, with freshman Taylor Day picking up her first NCAA Division I marker. Three and-a-half minutes later junior Haleigh Finale got a perfect feed from fifth-year Chelsea Kingston and buried her third goal of the campaign to open up a 4-1 lead.

“It feels like this group is the most talented group since I’ve been here,” RMU’s head coach Chris Shaw said. “We had an opportunity with so many home games at the beginning of the year to get off to a great start, and we’ve taken advantage. We brought some talented players in, and you can only be as successful as the players you have. You can’t mold marble out of clay. The class that we brought in this year is a very talented class, coupled with the players we had returning. We’re a lot deeper. In years past we haven’t been able to bring players off the bench that could impact the game. Now we’re able to bring in players than can make an immediate impact off the bench.”

RMU played the majority of the contest on the attack, racking up 42 shots, including 28 on goal.

The final score of the afternoon came at 81:00, when senior forward Gabriella Lecuona also picked up her third goal of the season to settle the final score.

SCORING PLAYS
11:20 – RMU – Malia Kearns (Haleigh Finale)
37:52 – RMU – Chelsea Kingston (Kayla Veloso-Lima, Cali Laymon)
53:17 – DSU – Gabriella Cabrera
60:09 – RMU – Taylor Day (Renae Mohrbacher, Kearns)
63:40 – RMU – Finale (Kingston)
81:00 – RMU – Gabriella Lecuona

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Eight different Colonials scored Thursday against Delaware State, with Kearns opening the scoring at 11:20 on a feed from Finale. Kearns, Finale and Kingston each finished with a goal and an assist to pace RMU as the Colonials established a new single-game record with 42 shots. The old mark of 39 came Oct. 10, 1998, in a 5-0 win over Charleston (W.Va.). The previous record against an NCAA Division I opponent also came during the 1998 season when RMU peppered Youngstown State with 31 shots in a 5-1 win.