ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure women's lacrosse team picked up a convincing victory over Robert Morris on Wednesday afternoon at the Marra Athletics Complex, leading wire-to-wire in an 11-4 decision.
 
Led in the contest by a hat trick from senior captain Brooke Piper, the Bonnies (2-3) took an early advantage and never looked back. Freshman Riley Milligan got SBU started just three minutes after the opening draw, working from behind the net for a wrap-around score.
 
The Colonials (2-3, 0-0 MAC) then watched about a minute later as Piper sprinted down the field in transition, finding Maddie Pieloch on a cross-field pass which the sophomore turned into a second score.
 
Though the visitors got on the board midway through the first quarter, the Bonnies continued to surge as senior Grace Hollenbeck capitalized on some great ball movement at the seven-minute mark for a score. Piper followed that up with her first goal of the day on a free position shot, sending the game to the second period at a score of 4-1.
 
RMU countered with a goal to open the second quarter, but Bona stole the momentum right back just a minute later as Piper scored her second goal in a row, coming off a sweet feed from sophomore Sidney Van Tassel. A nearly eight-minute scoreless stretch followed, which the Colonials broke after finding the back of the net with about three and a half minutes to play in the half.
 
Determined to enter the halftime break on a high note, Van Tassel and Hollenbeck each registered goals on free position attempts in the final two minutes of the second quarter to send the contest to halftime at a score of 7-3.
 
Robert Morris also found the first goal of the third quarter, but it would be the team's final tally of the day as the Bonnies emphasized strong defense and control of possession the rest of the way.
 
Piper added to the hosts' level of comfort when she completed her hat trick in the third period off quick reversal from Van Tassel. Throughout the rest of the half, Van Tassel, Milligan and senior Megan Schillinger would all register goals to fully close the door on the Colonials.
 
Sophomore goalie Judy Mahoney started and played the full 60 minutes between the pipes, making six saves to earn the win.
 
GAME NOTES

• Piper passed Molly Hastrich, '10 for the third-most career goals in program history (140). The captain posted a dominant stat line in the win with three goals, two assists, six groundballs, five draw controls and two caused turnovers.
• Van Tassel notched four points (2G-2A), adding two draw controls.
• Senior captain Brit Colangelo continued her streak of defensive excellence by causing three turnovers and scooping two groundballs.
• The Bonnies controlled the game's flow and outshot the Colonials, 31-15.
• SBU was successful on 94 percent of clearing attempts (16-for-17) while RMU was held to a 78 percent success rate (11-for-14).
• Bona controlled 11 draws to the visitors' seven.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH LEIGHANN STAUFFER
"Our defense had another great game. They are playing very solid together. Offensively we're getting people involved across the board and gaining confidence with each game. We're happy to be back in the win column, we were overdue for one."

UP NEXT
The Bonnies will next face Niagara on the road on Saturday, Feb. 28 to kick off a four-game road stretch.
 
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