Moon Township, Pa. – Redshirt senior attackman Dave Morton (Orangeville, Ontario / Hill School) and true freshman attackman Luke Laszkiewicz (Oshawa, Ontario / Westminster Prep) of the Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team both earned weekly honors from the Northeast Conference (NEC) as announced by the league office Monday afternoon.
Morton was named as NEC Co-Player of the Week while Laszkiewicz was selected as the league's Co-Rookie of the Week.
With these two selections, RMU broke its program record for most weekly awards in a season with 13 as the Colonials have claimed at least one honor in eight of the 11 weeks in which awards have been given this season.
The duo was honored after both helped Robert Morris rally from a five-goal deficit to claim a victory over league foe Quinnipiac, a win which moved the Colonials into the second seed for the NEC Tournament.
Morton posted a game-high four points, on the strength of two goals and two assists, to lead the Colonials offensively on Senior Day. Morton, who now needs three points to hit 100 for his career, moved into a tie for eighth in career assists at RMU (37). He also collected the 22nd multi-point game of his career and the 17th multi-goal game. Morton has tallied at least four points in a game three times in RMU's past seven outings. In addition to ranking among the top eight in career goals (60) and points (97) at RMU, Morton currently leads the NEC in shooting percentage with his .455 average, a mark which ranks among the top 10 nationally.
This award is the first weekly honor of the season for Morton and the second of his career.
Laszkiewicz notched the game's only hat trick, including scoring the goal that gave RMU the lead for good, in Robert Morris' come-from-behind victory over Quinnipiac. Laszkiewicz registered his third hat trick of the season and his seventh multi-goal effort of 2013. He also made an appearance at the 'X' and won the first two faceoffs of his career Saturday. Within NEC play, Laszkiewicz finished tied for the team lead in points and was second on the squad in goals. He also is tied for sixth in goals per game within conference play and leads all NEC rookies in that category.
This is the second time this month that Laszkiewicz has been honored in the league's Rookie of the Week category.
Morton and Laszkiewicz are two of the nine active Colonials who have won a weekly honor in their career.
Robert Morris will now turn right around and have a rematch with the third-seeded Bobcats in the NEC Semifinals Thursday, May 2. The game, which will take place at top seed Bryant, will begin at 4:00 p.m. The tournament champion will claim the league's first automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
