The Youngstown State women's lacrosse team dropped a 16-12 contest to Mid-American Conference opponent Robert Morris on Saturday evening at Farmers National Bank Field.
The Penguins now drop to 5-6 on the season and 0-3 in MAC play, while Robert Morris moves to 4-7 on the season and 2-0 in MAC play.
YSU had three players score multiple goals on the evening, led by Brooke Peck, who tied a career-high with four goals. Grace Rund and Ally Garrett each added two goals for the Guins, while Claire Baenziger, Lena Cox, Katie Grottenthaler, and Ava Kreutzer each scored once.
Cox also added a team-high two assists, pushing her season total to 20, and marking the eighth time this season that she has had at least two assists.
Rund had a great performance on draws during the game, setting a new career-high with eight draw controls.
Baenziger corralled a team-high four ground balls, which is a new season-high, while seven different Penguins had a caused turnover.
In the cage, Brooke Harper was the only Penguin to appear, saving a season-high 11 shots while allowing 15 goals. The last goal for the Colonials occurred during an empty-net situation with YSU trying to make a push in the final minutes.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth battle out of the gates, as YSU got on the board first with 11:57 remaining in the first quarter, courtesy of a Brooke Peck goal. Robert Morris would then answer with two goals of their own in a span of just over a minute, the first coming at the 8:07 mark, followed by the second goal with 6:56 remaining in the opening quarter, giving RMU their first lead of the game at 2-1. The Penguin would then answer with two goals of their own, the first from Grace Rund with 3:46 remaining on the first quarter clock, assisted by Lena Cox, and the second from Claire Baenziger with 2:59 on the clock, giving YSU the lead back at 3-2. That is where the score would stand through the completion of the quarter.
Robert Morris used two three-goal runs in the second quarter to start to build an edge. The first run came to open up the quarter, as the Colonials scored goals at 14:25, 13:44, and 12:06 to take a two-goal lead at 5-3. This was the first time during the game that either team held a lead of multiple goals. Brooke Peck then found the back of the net for the second time during the game to bring the Penguins back within one goal at 5-4 with 8:46 remaining in the opening half, but the Colonials uncorked another big spurt offensively. Robert Morris' goals at the 6:14, 4:57, and 2:48 marks of the second quarter blossomed their lead to 8-4. Lena Cox then got in the scoring column for YSU as the Penguins took advantage of being a player-up, scoring with 1:20 remaining until the halftime break, before Robert Morris had three shots within the final 45 seconds of the quarter, finally capitalizing with just seven seconds on the clock, giving them a 9-5 lead heading into the locker room.
YSU had a very strong surge to start the second half as they looked to cut into the four-goal deficit. Brooke Peck clinched a hat trick to begin the third-quarter scoring, taking a pass from Ally Garrett and firing a shot past the goalkeeper at the 13:24 mark of the quarter. Her goal was followed up by Katie Grottenthaler's first goal of the game with 12:01 remaining in the quarter, assisted by Claire Baenziger, and Ava Kreuzter joined the scoring party with 6:41 remaining in the quarter, assisted by Lena Cox, to bring the Penguins within one goal at 9-8. The three-goal run would end there as RMU's offense came alive for the remaining chunk of the quarter, netting the final three goals, pushing their lead back up to four heading into the final period.
The Colonials continued their hot shooting to begin the final frame, as Gia Anthony scored the quarter's first two goals, and capped off a five-goal stretch, with the final three goals all being scored by Anthony. The final goal gave RMU their biggest lead of the game at 14-8 with 12:09 left in regulation. The Penguins attempted a late-game run, as Brooke Peck netted her fourth goal of the game and 20th of the season with 11:31 remaining, followed by Ally Garrett's first goal of the contest at the 10:28 mark, and Grace Rund's second goal of the game with 7:49 left, bringing YSU back within three goals at 14-11. RMU snapped YSU's run with 6:58 left in the game, pushing their lead back to four. Ally Garrett scored her second goal of the game to tie a season-high with just under four minutes remaining, and the Colonials added the game's final goal with the Penguins having an empty net with just 17 seconds left, giving RMU a 16-12 victory.
The Colonials were very aggressive offensively all night long, outshooting YSU 38-23, including a stretch during the middle portion of the game where they fired off 13 shots in the second and third quarters each.
RMU also won the draw control battle 18-13, including a 7-2 advantage in the second quarter.
The Penguins will be back on the road for a matchup with George Washington on Fri. Apr. 4. This is a makeup game that was initially scheduled for Feb. 12 before it was postponed due to inclement weather in the Washington D.C. area.
For news and updates throughout the 2025 women's lacrosse season, follow @YSUwlax on X .
