Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne women's soccer team battled the undefeated Robert Morris University Colonials to a 1-1 draw on Friday afternoon at Ted Grant Field in non-conference action.

RMU entered Friday's match with a 6-0-1 record, and they took a 1-0 lead in the 21^st minute, but the Dolphins tied the game early in the second half on a penalty kick goal from sophomore defender Jasmina Barhoumi (Worms, Germany/Nelly-Sachs-IGS/D'Youville) after junior forward Sierra Edwards (Greece, N.Y./Hilton/Monroe) forced a turnover and drew a foul within RMU's penalty area.

The goal was Barhoumi's first as a Dolphin, and it improved her season point total to three.

"It's great, it's such an honor," said Barhoumi about recording her first goal in a Le Moyne kit. "It's definitely not my goal, it's a goal for the whole team. We got the penalty, and we worked together to get this goal, so it's a goal for all of us."

Friday's contest was the second consecutive game that the Dolphins have battled back from a 1-0 first-half deficit to record a 1-1 draw on their home field. During the team's previous home match against Rhode Island, Edwards put away the tying goal in the 75^th minute to help the 'Phins record their first draw of the season in their home opener.

"Every time I'm impressed with how we never give up," Barhoumi added. "We all like fighting. All the games we've been one behind at least – or two against NU – and we never stopped fighting and pushing forward. The last five minutes [today] we had like three shots, that shows how much we want to win every game together."

Le Moyne graduate goalkeeper Allison Moreau (Sauquoit, N.Y./Sauquoit Valley) recorded seven saves during the game, including six in the second half.

"(Playing in front of Moreau) is awesome," said the center back Barhoumi. "She's a calm and secure person. She protects my back and I can trust her blindly. If she says 'Goalie', I don't even have to look, I know she's going to get it. Or, if she says 'Keep it out', I know she trusts me, and I trust her. It's perfect communication there."

The Dolphins tied their season-high of 10 shots during the tie. They previously took 10 shots during a 3-2 win at Niagara.

Le Moyne put four shots on goal against the Colonials on Friday, and they earned their first penalty kick of the season.

RMU traveled to Syracuse with a 5-0 record on the road. They had scored at least two goals in six of their seven games so far this season. The Colonials had also only allowed four goals on the year prior to Friday, with four of their wins being shutouts.

RMU forward Lidia Nduka was off to an incredible start to the 2023 campaign, scoring seven goals through the team's first seven matches. Nduka took three shots at Ted Grant Field on Friday, but the Dolphins became just the second team this season to prevent her from scoring.

"We never want to find ourselves behind, but it has happened in the last two games, and even in the Niagara win we found ourselves behind. But it shows the character of the players that they are going to stay focused, they are going to maintain their work rate throughout the game, and they are going to keep going with the plan and do their best to execute it," said Le Moyne head coach Jaro Zawislan. "… In transition to attack (Robert Morris) created quite a few chances. Allison (Moreau) made some very good plays, the team defended well as a group. We had to absorb a lot of set pieces – a few too many for our liking – but again, this is Division I soccer. There's not much margin for error, and the team put itself in the position with a few minutes left to get a positive result out of it… There was a little break there before the final 3 minutes and 15 seconds on the clock and we came out of the break with the full intention of defending very well, managing the game at the end from a defensive point of view, not to only get something out of it in the form of a tie, but actually go after the game-winning goal, and that's what happened. Out of our press we created a couple very good opportunities, one was glorious, it's just a game of inches and that's how close we were to winning this game. Robert Morris is a quality opponent and this is definitely a positive result. We never want to play for a tie, we were going after the win, but I think both teams provided a very entertaining game and both teams did enough to earn something out of this game," Zawislan added.

The Le Moyne women's soccer team (1-3-2) will next travel to South Orange, New Jersey on Sunday for a 4:00 p.m. match against Big East side Seton Hall University. The Dolphins will then play their final non-conference game at home against Canisius on Wednesday before hosting Howard for their Northeast Conference debut at Ted Grant Field on Sunday, September 17.

"We'll keep improving," added Zawislan. "The team still has so much more potential here and we are not at the midpoint of the season yet. The out of conference season was very well put together in the sense of the challenging schedule that is preparing us well for the NEC regular season, and that is coming up very fast. There's a lot of work to be done. Tonight, players will enjoy this result, but tomorrow it's back to the video session. It'll be almost like a double video session with regards to this game, analyze it, improve on the aspects of the game that were visible, and then look at what Seton Hall is doing, because on Sunday we're hitting the road to New Jersey. It's a quick turnaround. We have one more game midweek and then it's NEC season, so a lot of work to be done in the next 10 days or so."

Friday's Game Details:
With just over 30 minutes remaining in the first half, RMU graduate midfielder Kaoru Hayashi took a corner from the right flag and crossed the ball in the air towards the edge of the six-yard box. Moreau moved away from the goal line and made a contested catch of the ball within a smarm of RMU attackers.

In the 16^th minute, Le Moyne sophomore midfielder Lindsey LeBlanc (Westminster, Mass./St. Bernard's) sent a hard pass on the ground from the left wing to sophomore midfielder Alaina Carro (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent/Wheeling) at the edge of Le Moyne's attacking third in the middle of the field. With her first touch, Carro laid the ball off to graduate midfielder Marissa Lisikatos (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane), who used her first touch to send a pass to her left ahead of freshman forward Sofia Sanzo (Niskayuna, N.Y./Colonie). Sanzo, who recorded a season-high four shots during the game, took a touch forward then delivered a right-footed strike on goal that was caught by RMU graduate goalkeeper Brenna Murray.

With 26:11 remaining in the first half, following a Le Moyne cross from the right wing, the ball ricocheted to the fee of Sanzo just outside the 18-yard box. Sanzo turned away from an RMU defender and sent a pass to her left for LeBlanc. LeBlanc carried the ball to her left, and took a big touch into the box to evade a challenge from a Robert Morris defender. With three Colonials in close pursuit, LeBlanc got around the ball and hit a left-footed shot towards the upper left corner of the net. Murray leapt in the air and knocked the ball away from goal and out bounds for a Le Moyne corner kick.

On the ensuing corner, Barhoumi played the ball short to sophomore midfielder Payton Khadra (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island), who drove a cross into the box with her right foot. Khadra's pass was placed perfectly in the path of Sanzo, who redirected the ball onto goal with her right foot. Sanzo's shot had the keeper beat, but RMU junior defender Emily Rocco was stationed at the far post and blocked the ball on the goal line.

In the 21^st minute, RMU played the ball into their attacking third and it was knocked into the air by the Le Moyne defense. Robert Morris senior forward Haleigh Finale headed the ball out of the air straight ahead for sophomore forward Renae Mohrbacher, who brought it down in Le Moyne's penalty area and poked it into the back of the net with her right foot to give the Colonials a 1-0 lead.

With 12:35 left in the first half, RMU graduate student Lidia Nduka, who entered the game with a Horizon League leading seven goals through seven matches, made a move into the left side of Le Moyne's penalty area then dropped off a pass to Hayashi, who drilled the ball on the ground towards goal with her first touch. Moreau dropped down and scooped up the shot for her first save of the contest.

Le Moyne outshot RMU 5-4 during the first half, and three of their shots were on target, compared to two for the Colonials.

For the first few minutes of the second half the Dolphins kept the ball in their attacking half and applied continuous pressure on the RMU defense. Le Moyne's efforts were rewarded in the 50^th minute when Sierra Edwards stole a pass in Robert Morris' 18-yard box and then drew a foul, earning a penalty kick for the 'Phins.

Barhoumi, who celebrated her birthday on Friday, took the kick for the Dolphins and placed her shot on the ground to the right of the diving RMU keeper and into the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1.

Moreau made her first save of the second half in the 60^th minute when she dove to her left to block a shot off the left foot of Nduka from inside Le Moyne's penalty area.

Moreau was called into action again just over two minutes later, when Rocco played a ball from the left wing towards the right side of the 18-yard box in the path of Mohrbacher. Mohrbacher took a touch at the edge of the six-yard box to collect the skipping pass, then she hit a right-footed shot from point-blank range that was knocked down and picked up by Le Moyne's graduate goalkeeper.

Following a Barhoumi clearance with a little over 25 minutes remaining in the second half, Sierra Edwards corralled the loose ball and used a burst of pace to evade an RMU challenge and begin a long run across midfield and up the middle-left portion of the pitch. Edwards carried the ball all the way into the left side of the RMU penalty area before a third RMU defender came over and finally dispossessed her.

In the 79^th minute, Robert Morris sophomore forward Malia Kearns sprung a quick counterattack for the Colonials and carried the ball into their attacking third before sending a pass to Nduka just outside Le Moyne's 18-yard box. Nduka picked out a pass to a wide-open Shauna Gamble in the left side of the box. Gamble took a touch towards the six-yard box to set up a point-blank shot on goal. Sanzo was tracking back for the Dolphins, and sprinted into the box to contest Gamble's shot. Gamble was able to get a shot off despite Sanzo's pressure, but the sure-handed Moreau caught the shot to end the threat.

Following a brief injury stoppage with a little over three minutes remaining in the second half, the Dolphins for the most part kept the ball pinned within RMU's defensive half.

Le Moyne continued to press the RMU back line, and with just over two minutes remaining, Carro poked the ball away from a Robert Morris player towards the 18-yard box. Carro took a touch into the RMU penalty area and hit a right-footed shot that went just wide of the left post.

About 30 seconds later Edwards dribbled at an RMU player in Le Moyne's attacking third, cut to her right and sent a pass to Carro just outside the 18-yard box. Carro got the ball on her right foot and aimed a shot towards the upper right corner of the goal. Murray dove to cover the net, but the shot went just wide of the right post.

Zawislan on Moreau's performance in goal: "(Allison's leadership) is very important. We always emphasize that in our program, all three goalkeepers, we are very comfortable with any one of them stepping into the role. Allison has been performing tremendously, that of course makes it a little bit more difficult for the two other keepers to get playing time, and the games are very close. We know that our two other keepers are ready to go. That team and group effort, especially the goalkeeping group, are working hard day in and day out, knowing that whoever steps into the role is going to perform at a very high level. They keep pushing each other, there is a very healthy competition among all three of them. Yes, there is one goalkeeper in goal, in this case it's Allison, and she represents that effort of all three keepers. That effort behind the scenes in everyday training sessions that people don't see. Again, Allison was a very important part of the game [today], as goalkeepers are all the time. She knows that a lot of stuff is taken care of higher up the field, far away from the goal by the team defending, but when she is called upon, she came through with very important key plays."

Other quotes from Zawislan: "Beginning of the second half we started very well, contrary to our last game [against Rhode Island], we came out very strong, pressed high up the field, we had the set play executed well where we pressed and drew the PK. All of a sudden, the game starts brand new, at the beginning of the second half it's a 1-1 tie, and now the momentum shifts happen. Credit to Robert Morris, they're not undefeated this late in the season, I mean it's almost the midway point of the season for them and they are still undefeated as a Division I team. Not too many teams like that left in the country. Everyone gets blemishes in losses, they only have a couple of ties, six wins, there is a reason for it."

"Today's game was another step in the right direction with regards to attacking sequences, creating opportunities. In the first half, early in the game [having goal-scoring opportunities], that was something that maybe we didn't experience as much in the previous games."