Box Score Staten Island, N.Y. - Redshirt junior Dave Morton (Orangeville, Ontario / Hill School) tallied five assists and eight points, tying two single-game school records, to lead the Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team to a 22-10 thumping of host Wagner in its Northeast Conference (NEC) opener Saturday afternoon at Wagner Stadium.
Morton tied a pair of significant offensive school records to put his name into the single-game record book. His five helpers marked just the second time ever that a Colonial had a quintet of assists in a single contest. It also marked just the fifth time ever, and the second this season, in which the Colonials had a student-athlete net eight points in a game. Morton's fourth-career hat trick gave him his third straight multi-goal game and extended his point streak to a career-best nine games.
Morton's five assists were part of a larger team effort that saw Robert Morris shatter its previous record for team assists in a game. RMU posted 19 helpers on its 22 goals to surpass its previous top mark by five assists. Those 19 assists combined with the team's 22 scores, which tied for the fourth-most in a game in school history, to also break the program record for team points in a game (41).
Morton was not the only Colonial to tally an assist record Saturday as senior Kyle Buchanan (Nepean, Ontario / John McCrae) provided a helper with 4:14 remaining in the second quarter to break Robert Morris' career assist record. He would add another in the third and finished the day with a new program-best 63. Buchanan netted a goal to earn his first four-point game of the season and the sixth of his career. Buchanan also contributed in the middle third of the field as he went 13-for-20 at the 'X' to earn the first faceoff wins of his career. In the process, he collected a career-high 12 ground balls, which moved him into second place all-time at RMU in that department (161).
The Colonials also posted some notable numbers in other categories as they collected 51 ground balls, the second-most in a single game and the highest mark ever in a conference game, and have now tallied 97 in their last two games combined. Robert Morris also won 24 faceoffs, which tied for the second-highest figure in a game and is the best ever mark in a road game or a league game.
Redshirt junior Mike Meagher (Chesterfield, Mo. / St. Louis University) joined in the record-setting day by tying his career high with four caused turnovers, which pushed him into a tie for the all-time lead at RMU in that category with 42. Meagher also notched his first point of the season, and the fifth of his career, on a first-quarter assist.
Junior Jake Hayes (Calgary, Alberta / Central Memorial), the nation's leader in shooting percentage entering the week, put home four scores and added an assist to post back-to-back five-point games for the first time in his career. With the effort, Hayes moved into ninth place in career points (61) while collecting multiple points for the ninth time this season. Hayes' ninth-career hat trick was also his seventh multi-goal game of 2012.
Senior Casey Abbott (San Jose, Calif. / Bellarmine Prep.) matched Hayes' output and had the best offensive day of his career as he set new highs in goals (four) and points (five). Abbott notched the first double-digit goal season of his career with the performance and also surpassed 20 points in a season for the first time. He also supplied a career-high four caused turnovers.
While RMU would run away with the game, Wagner was able to keep it close in the first quarter. The Colonials led by just one, 5-4, after 15 minutes of action, and the Seahawks then scored within the first minute of the second frame to even the proceedings.
However, RMU then went on an amazing run.
Over the next 15:27, the Colonials outscored Wagner, 12-0, taking a 17-5 lead early in the third quarter. RMU led 12-5 at the half and then would score four times in a 34-second span in the first minute of the second half to take an even firmer hold of the game. Morton would register all eight of his points during this game-changing run, a sequence in which all 12 Colonial goals were assisted.
Robert Morris would extend its lead to as many as 13 and never let it get below double digits the rest of the way in cruising over the remaining minutes of play.
Sophomore Ryan Higgins (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West) tallied his first-collegiate point with a third-quarter goal, but he would go on to score three more times to finish the day with a quartet of goals on just four shots.
Senior Kiel Matisz (Stoney Creek, Ontario / Saltfleet) tallied two goals and two assists to record his eighth straight multi-goal game. Matisz, who also moved past the previous career assist record fewer than eight minutes after Buchanan topped it, extended his point streak to 16 games. Matisz tallied his 36th career multi-point game and his 22nd career multi-goal game and has now posted at least three points in 13 of his last 15 games.
Redshirt senior Kevin Brownell (Burlington, Ontario / Central) provided three assists to record his 20th career multi-point game and his 11th with at least three points.
RMU used a trio of netminders in the game, but they managed to combine for a double-digit save total for the 10th-consecutive game, which broke the program record for the longest such in-season stretch in school history.
The Colonials recorded a season-high 14 caused turnovers, a mark which ranks among the top 10 in single-game school history.
Junior Mike Keegan (Commack, N.Y. / Commack) notched his first-career multi-point game (1g, 1a) while sophomore defenseman Sean Meagher (Chesterfield, Mo. / St. Louis University) took home his first-career point with a fourth-quarter assist.
RMU will now have a week off before continuing with NEC action as the Colonials carry on with league play next Saturday, April 7. Robert Morris will meet Sacred Heart with the opening faceoff set for Noon.
