Moon Township, Pa. ? The Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team held #20 Ohio State to a 3-2 advantage going into halftime, but a nine-goal explosion in the second half propelled the Buckeyes to a 12-5 victory over the Colonials at Joe Walton Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Robert Morris (4-4) matched up with the Buckeyes in every way, tying them in shots (34), ground balls (25) and even committing fewer turnovers (24-19), but couldn't match the visitors in scoring.  

After falling behind 1-0 to start the game, the Colonials evened the score thanks to a pushing call on the Buckeyes' Scott Matthews at the 1:00 mark. Freshman Corbyn Tao-Brambleby (Coquitlam, B.C. / Western Reserve Academy) converted on the 30-second penalty when he snagged a loose ball in front of the net and buried it past Ohio State's Stefan Schroeder 15 seconds later.

The Buckeyes answered back though as time was winding down. OSU's Jeff Ryan, who led the team with three goals, netted his first of the game with just four seconds left to give the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead heading into the second.

Both teams exchanged scores in the following quarter. Freshman Taylor Caparosa (Annapolis, Md. / Annapolis) tied the game at 2-2 with his third of the year at 13:00, while Mario Ventiquattro took back the lead with a score at 12:25.

The Colonials defense began to wear in the third as the Buckeyes kicked off a 5-0 run that used up nearly seven minutes of the quarter. During that stretch, Ohio State converted on three man-up situations as well as adding two even strength tallies.

Down, 8-2, heading into the final stanza, Robert Morris rallied with two quick goals from sophomore Pat Smith (Westminster, Md. / Westminster) and junior Dan Kerch (Chesterfield, Mo. / DeSmet) exactly 10 seconds apart. After the tallies, Ohio State regained momentum with a four-goal run to cash in the victory. Freshman Rob Marasti (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) added his fourth goal of the season to close out the scoring at 3:30.

Sophomore Sal Barcia (West Islip, N.Y. / West Islip) stopped nine shots in goal while counterpart Schroeder registered his third victory of the season with 14 saves.

Robert Morris opens up CAA play this weekend when the Colonials take on Sacred Heart on Saturday, March 22 in Fairfield, Conn. Game time is set for noon.