Box Score Denver, Colo. - After trailing for just 4:27 combined in their opening three games, the Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team allowed No. 11/12 Denver to jump out to a big lead and was never able to recover as the Colonials fell for the first time this season Sunday afternoon, dropping a 21-8 decision in the final game of the DU Face-Off Classic at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
In spite of the defeat, a pair of Colonials who both put up monster offensive numbers on the weekend were named to the All-Tournament Team as junior Jake Hayes (Calgary, Alberta / Central Memorial) and senior Kiel Matisz (Stoney Creek, Ontario / Saltfleet) claimed such honors. Both Hayes (9g, 1a) and Matisz (5g, 5a) totaled 10 points in the two games at the Classic and each had a game with at least six points.
In the first meeting ever between the Pioneers and the Colonials, Denver, a 2011 Final Four participant, ran out to an 8-1 lead fewer than 21 minutes into the contest, and RMU was never able to recover.
Matisz led the Colonials against Denver by tying his career high with six points, which came on the strength of three goals and three assists. He claimed at least three points for the eighth time in his last nine games, collected his 16th career multi-goal effort and produced his 30th career multi-point effort. It marked Matisz's third-career six-point game, and all of them have come on the road.
A day after tying the single-game school record for goals, Hayes netted two more scores to notch his ninth-career multi-goal game. Hayes continued his amazing offensive efficiency as he needed the minimum two shots to collect his pair of scores. Hayes has now scored on each of his last 10 shots, has notched 13 goals on 16 shots this year (.812) and has collected his 34 career goals on just 44 shots (.773).
Robert Morris actually outshot Denver in both the first and fourth quarters and fired 39 shots in all at the Pioneer cage, but the hosts were able to withstand the Colonials' offensive forays.
After falling behind by a large margin early, RMU tried to rally by scoring four of the game's next six goals to cut the Pioneer lead to 10-5 right before the half. However, Denver began the second half on fire and scored eight consecutive goals to take a firm grip on the proceedings.
Senior Kyle Buchanan (Nepean, Ontario / John McCrae) notched a second-quarter assist to extend his consecutive point streak to nine games.
Junior Tyler Digby (Westminster, British Columbia / New Westminster), senior Teddy Finnegan (West Islip, N.Y. / West Islip) and redshirt junior Dave Morton (Orangeville, Ontario / Hill School) rounded out the goal-scorers for Robert Morris Sunday.
After going 3-1 while playing four consecutive games away from home to start the season, Robert Morris will finally get to play on its home field this coming Saturday, March 3, at Noon. The Colonials are set to play their second straight game against a nationally-ranked opponent as they will host Colgate for the first time in program history.
