Box Score Moon Township, Pa. - April 10, 2010 - It was a battle between the nation's top scoring offense and the nation's top defense when the Robert Morris University Colonials took on the Bryant Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium that ended in a 15-14 double overtime Bryant victory. The Colonial's lost their first overtime contest of the season when Bryant's Gary Crowley captured the game-winner with 1:31 left in the second overtime to earn the Bryant victory.
Although being defeated by the Bulldogs, the Colonials proved why they are the nation's top offensive team by scoring 14 goals against a team that has never let an opponent score more than nine goals in a contest and averages holding their opponent to just 5.67 goals per game. However, Bryant's defense also lived up to its reputation by holding the Colonials to 14 goals, when they average 15.78 goals per game.
With the loss the Colonials drop to 8-3, while the Bulldogs improve to 7-4. The game saw 10 ties and three lead changes throughout the 60 minutes of regulation play.
Junior Corbyn Tao-Brambleby (Coquitlam, B.C. / Western Reserve Academy) captured his second five-goal performance of the season to lead the Colonials and sophomore Kiel Matisz (Stoney Creek, Ontario / Saltfleet) added two scores. Both junior Trevor Moore (Port Coquitlam, B.C. / Western Reserve Academy) and redshirt sophomore Kevin Brownell (Burlington, Ontario / Central) tallied one goal and three helpers in the contest and senior Jordon Sealock (Airdrie, Alberta / George MacDougal) led the defense with three caused turnovers. Junior Keith Lee (Hudson, Ohio / Western Reserve Academy) recorded a game-high five ground balls and added two caused turnovers, one goal and one assist.
It took nearly five minutes for the first score to be made in the first quarter, but finally Bryant's Max Weisenberg fired in a goal at 4:39 to gain the early lead. With 6:04 left in the quarter freshman Taylor Graves (Carlsbad, Calif. / Carlsbad) was able to score the equalizing goal, which was followed with goals by Moore and Lee in the next four minutes to give RMU a 3-1 advantage. Bryant's Crowley brought the Bulldogs within one upon entering the second frame with a goal at 13:45 off an assist from Travis Harrington.
Bryant dominated the second quarter of play, outscoring the Colonials five-to-two. Weisenberg once again tallied the first score of the quarter at 3:30 to mark his second goal of the contest. Tao-Brambleby responded for the Colonials by finding a pass from Patrick Smith (Westminster, Md. / Westminster) in front of the Bryant net and getting it passed Bulldog goalie Jameson Love 18 seconds later.
Bryant's offense exploded throughout the next seven minutes and scored four goals with two being earned on man-up opportunities. The Colonials held possession of the ball for the last minute and waited till there was five seconds left on the clock to score when Tao-Brambleby scored his second of the day off a feed from Moore. The first-half ended 7-5 in the Bulldogs favor.
In a reversal of events, the Colonials charged past the Bulldogs in the third quarter scoring six goals to Bryant's three. The Colonials started the third quarter exactly how they ended the second with the RMU duo of Tao-Brambleby and Moore working together to make it a one goal game, 7-6, at 2:56 into the quarter.
Bryant's Peter McMahon answered back with a goal at 4:42 on an unassisted play, but the Colonials scored twice at the 6:07 and 6:54 marks to knot the score 8-8. Bryant's Weisenberg scored his fourth goal of the contest to take back the lead, but the Colonials scored a man-down goal and man-up goal within 1:30 of play to earn their first lead since the start of the second quarter at 10-9. Each team scored once more in the third frame to set the score at 11-10 heading into the final quarter.
Throughout the entirety of the final 15 minutes of regulation the Bulldogs and the Colonials swapped scores, with it ending in a 14-14 deadlock.
Bryant held possession for the majority of the first overtime, but the Colonials played resilient defense to prevent the score. Robert Morris finally got the ball with a minute left to play and got one shot off, but it went wide forcing the second overtime.
Both teams continued to battle in the second overtime, but the Bulldogs came out victorious when Crowley found the back of the RMU net with 1:31 left on the clock.
Bryant finished two-for-five on the man-up advantage, while the Colonials went one-for-two. The RMU duo of Charles Ruppert (Long Island, N.Y. / Massapequa) and Dillon Pope (Smithtown, N.Y. / Smithtown West) finished with nine saves, with Ruppert adding three and Pope finishing with six. Love finished the contest with seven saves for the Bulldogs.
The Colonials wrap up their home schedule against No. 2 North Carolina on Saturday, April 17 at 1:00 p.m. at Joe Walton Stadium.
