Box Score Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team defeated Wagner College, 15-10, Sunday afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium. Freshman Pat Smith (Westminster, Md. / Westminster) exploded in the second-half, scoring four goals to help the Colonials (2-1) achieve their first victory over a Division I opponent.
With Smith's four-point performance, four other Colonials registered a multi-point game including Junior Andrew Watt (Kitchener, Ontario / Grand River Collegiate) with two goals and two assists and Sophomore Michael Fleming (Sarnia, Ontario / St. Christopher) with one goal and two assists. Senior Carlo Sunseri (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) and Sophomore Truett Valentine (Alexandria, Va. / Mt. Vernon) each tallied two goals.
Wagner came out of the gates firing on all cylinders to start the game. The Seahawks took control early, scoring four goals in the first quarter to lead Robert Morris, 4-2, after 15 minutes of play. Freshman Pat Britton (Germantown, Md. / Seneca Valley) and Sophomore Brandon Johnson tallied the two Colonial goals.
The momentum built up by Wagner wouldn't last though as the Colonials had other plans for the remainder of the game.
As the second quarter began to play out, Robert Morris rallied from the two-goal deficit to outscore the Seahawks, 4-1 in the stanza. Michael Fleming got the ball rolling, scoring at 7:55 with a Watt tally to follow at 7:09.
The Colonials fell into a bit of trouble though in the second after face-off specialist T.J. Sarnese (Horsham, Pa. / Hatsboro-Horsham) was called for an illegal stick giving Wagner an extended man-up opportunity. The three-minute penalty seemed like an eternity to the Seahawks as Junior Brendan Arthur (Kansas City, Mo. / Rockhurst) took a Wagner turnover the length of the field to feed Fleming in front of the goal for his second score of the game on a man-down chance.
Sophomore Truett Valentine wrapped up the first half with man-up goal at 2:23, giving the Colonials a 6-5 edge going into halftime.
Both teams kept it close in the third quarter, as Wagner opened up the stanza scoring the first goal to tie the game at 13:01. Robert Morris's offense answered back in couples with Sunseri and Sophomore Matt Hastings (Greensboro, N.C. / Western Guilford) scoring back-to-back at 10:32 and 8:02 to take the lead, 8-7. Wagner's Andrew Daly, who finished with three goals in the contest, tied the game up at 8-8 a minute later.
Freshman Pat Smith took over the final 18 minutes of the game, scoring to close out the third quarter and once again to open up the fourth. Along with goals from Valentine and Watt, Robert Morris's 5-2 run in the end proved to be too much for Wagner, earning the Colonials the victory.
Sophomore John Kennedy (Rockville Centre, N.Y. / South Side) and Junior Jason Dockum (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) split time in net, with Kennedy making five saves in the first half and Dockum making four in the second.
Robert Morris out-shot Wagner, 48-35, in the game while winning the ground ball battle, 45-28. The Colonials were 1-4 on the extra-man while the Seahawks were 1-9.
The Colonials have won their last two games at home and look to extend their winning ways this weekend as the team hosts Pennsylvania on March 3 at 1:00 p.m.
