Moon Township, Pa. – True freshman midfielder Eric Rankel (Philadelphia, Pa. / Downingtown West) of the Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team earned his second straight Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week accolade in an announcement made by the league office Monday.

In doing so, Rankel becomes the first Colonial in program history to claim a Rookie of the Week award in back-to-back weeks and just the third Colonial ever to win any weekly honor in back-to-back weeks.

Rankel made his presence felt on the offensive end yet again for the Colonials as helped RMU to its second straight victory this past Saturday. Rankel had at least three points for the third straight game as he scored once and assisted on two other tallies. Rankel also contributed in other areas this past weekend as he scooped up a season-high six ground balls, added three caused turnovers and also won 3-of-5 faceoffs that he took.

Rankel leads the team in both points (12) and goals (seven) in the early going and is tied for the team high in assists (five). He ranks among the top five in the league in points per game (4.00), goals per game (2.33) and assists per game (1.67). Rankel has found the net on over 41 percent of his shots and has eight ground balls on the season.

Rankel is the third Colonial in school history to win multiple Rookie of the Week honors and the ninth to claim multiple weekly honors of any type.

Robert Morris has now won three weekly honors in the NEC's first two releases of the season.

RMU will look to continue its winning ways this weekend as it hosts Drexel, but the Colonials will certainly have a challenge on their hands as Drexel checks in at No. 14 in the most recent United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) national rankings. The Colonials will meet the Dragons Saturday, March 2, at 1:00 p.m.