Lacrosse Hits the Road to Face Robert Morris

Lacrosse at Robert Morris
Date	Wednesday, April 19 \| 12 p.m.
Venue	Joe Walton Stadium \| Moon Township, Pa.
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF)
Live Stats	Fan Stats
Live Video	ESPN+
Social Media	Instagram: @emu_Lacrosse \| Twitter: @EMU_Lacrosse

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University lacrosse program is in preparation to take a trip east for a midweek noon meeting with Mid-American Conference affiliate member Robert Morris University, Wednesday, April 19. The contest will take place at Joe Walton Stadium on the Colonials' campus located in Moon Township, Pa. The Eagles (1-11, 0-4 MAC) are in search for their first conference win while the Colonials (6-8, 4-1 MAC) hold the second place spot in the MAC standings with four league victories.

OPENING DRAWS:
» EMU put up nine goals in a 19-9 setback to the Golden Flashes of Kent State University, Wednesday, April 12, on Scicluna Field.
» As a team, the Eagles recorded a program-record 35 ground balls in the loss, surpassing the 31 collected at home against Delaware State, March 7.
» Eastern collected 11 caused turnovers over KSU for the second-most in a single game in program history while also firing 30 shots, the third-highest total so far.
» Sydney Lawrence led the team with six points on five goals and one assist while also posting two more caused turnovers to add to her Mid-American Conference leading total.
» The program ranks second in the MAC in caused turnovers per game (7.58) and free-position percentage (46.2).
» The team's 17.75 ground balls per game rank third in the league and 29th nationally.

QUICK REVIEW • KENT STATE: The Green and White opened the scoring as Sydney Lawrence netted the first three goals of the day for her fourth hat trick in a first quarter that saw the score even four times. Gina Jaffurs scored her fifth collegiate goal at 4:54 on a pass from Tracy Grollman for the Eagles' fourth and final goal of the period. The assist gave Grollman at least one point in 10-of-12 games played this year, tying her for the team lead.
With the score tied at four, the Eagles surrendered six more goals to the Golden Flashes, connecting on just two themselves as Lawrence scored her fourth of the day and assisted on Mackenzie Blackwell's goal at the 2:38 mark. The Eagles finished the first half trailing the Golden Flashes, 10-6.
Eastern Michigan cut into the Kent State lead in the third period, tacking on three more goals to KSU's four. Blackwell scored on another free-position shot while Skylar Hilmer netted her seventh season goal on an unassisted shot. Lawrence finished the scoring for the Green and White with her fifth goal of the day with Eastern trailing, 14-9, at the end of the third. The guests would go on to outscore the Eagles, 5-0, in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring for a 19-9 final.

SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS: The Colonials enter the game with a 6-8 record and stand second in the league standings with a 4-1 MAC record, one game behind Central Michigan who is 4-0. Prior to its 21-6 setback to No. 8 Notre Dame, April 16, Robert Morris was on a three-game win streak over MAC members as it defeated Detroit Mercy, 18-10, April 8, Youngstown State, 12-6, April 12, and Kent State, 13-12, April 15. Before the stretch of wins, the Colonials dropped their only conference loss to Kent State in their first meeting, April 5, in a 13-10 decision. Individually, both Colleen Tifft
and Chelsea Coleman lead the way with Tifft recording 26 goals, eight assists, and 34 points while Coleman leads with 28 goals, two assists, and 30 points. Defensively, Coleman leads the team with 16 caused turnovers. The Colonials have had two goalkeepers make appearances over the season with Jamie Keller starting all 14 games. She has saved 101 shots and allowed 148 goals for a 40.6 save percentage and a 12.78 goals-against average.

NCAA TOP THREE: As a team, the Eagles recorded a program-record 35 ground balls in the game against Kent State, April 14, surpassing the 31 collected at home against Delaware State, March 7. The 35 ground balls rank as the third most in a single game in the NCAA this season behind the 39 recorded by both UMass and St. Francis (PA).

HAPPY 100: Sydney Lawrence's first goal of the game against KSU, April 14, which came at 12:48 in the first quarter, is the 100th goal scored this year for the Eagles. A program-record 12 Eagles have recorded at least one goal in a single game this season. Leading the team with 30 goals is Mackenzie Blackwell followed by Lawrence's 25 and Tracy Grollman's 15.

KEEP WINNING THE DRAW: Mackenzie Blackwell, who scored twice against the Golden Flashes, April 14, led the team in draw controls once again as she recorded six on the day. With those wins, she has now recorded at least six in each of the last five games and recorded at least five in 8-of-12 games played this year. She leads the team with 62 won draw controls and ranks second in the league with a 5.17 draw controls per game average.

JULIE'S CAREER DAY: Julie Lindsey had a career day in the defensive end of the field as she recorded five ground balls and three caused turnovers against KSU, April 14. Her ground ball total ties for the second-most in a single game this year while her caused turnovers tie for the EMU single-game record with Sydney Lawrence, who tallied three against Central Michigan, April 5.

HITTING FIVE AGAIN: Sydney Lawrence was stellar on offense once again as she tied her career high with five goals, April 14, which she previously tallied at Butler, March 26. The five goals marked her fourth hat trick of the season and second in a row.

SYD THE KID: Sydney Lawrence led the Eagles in their lone game of the week, April 14, as she tallied more than half of the team's goals at home against Kent State with five goals while adding one assist. Lawrence, who recorded her fourth hat trick of the season and second in as many games, tied her own mark for the second-most goals in a single game in program history while also bringing her current scoring streak to six games in a row with at least one goal, the longest stretch of her career.

SYD THE KID, BUT IN THE MAC: Sydney Lawrence, the MAC leader in caused turnovers per game with 1.83, added two more to her total to move up to 29th nationally, April 14. Overall, she is one of only three players in the MAC this year that currently rank in the top 10 of the conference in goals scored (8th at 2.08), assists (7th at 0.83), and points (8th at 2.92).

DOUBLING CAREER HIGHS: Tracy Grollman led the team with six ground balls, April 14, which doubled her career high of three that she recorded at Winthrop, March 3. The total also is a single-game record for EMU, surpassing the five Sydney Lawrence totaled against CMU.

CONSISTENT CONTRIBUTORS: With their points against Kent State, April 14, Mackenzie Blackwell, Tracy Grollman, and Sydney Lawrence have each recorded at least one point in 10 of the team's 12 games played this year.

NEXT BEST: The EMU lacrosse team currently holds the No. 2 position in the MAC rankings in two statistical categories. With a 46.2 free-position percentage, the Green and White rank second in the league and 38th nationally. Its 7.58 caused turnovers per game also ranks second in the MAC, and 69th in the nation.

UP NEXT: The EMU lacrosse team will continue its MAC schedule by playing host to the University of Akron, Saturday, April 22 in a noon meeting on Scicluna Field.

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Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Blackwell

Tracy Grollman

Skylar Hilmer

Gina Jaffurs

Sydney Lawrence

Julie Lindsey

Eastern Michigan Athletics