Columbus, Ohio – The
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team fell to Ohio State University, 10-6, in its season opener this evening from the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Robert Morris (0-1, 0-0 NEC) saw its brief two-game winning streak over Ohio State (1-1, 0-0 B1G) come to an end. The Colonials previously had beaten the Buckeyes in 2010 and 2012.
Ohio State rattled off the game's first five goals, while chances by juniors
Luke Laszkiewicz and
Eric Rankel during that stretch were waved off and saved, respectively.
The Colonials eventually answered with 3:33 remaining in the first period when junior midfielder
James Rahe twisted and weaved through three Buckeye defenders before unleashing a bouncing shot that made its way past OSU goaltender Tom Carey.
Despite a nifty kick save by freshman goaltender
Chase Rose to begin the second period, Ryan Hunter made it 6-1 for the Buckeyes with a goal off the rebound. OSU would add another goal five minutes later, but that would be its last goal of the half.
Rankel began a three-goal parade with 8:05 left in the second frame when he got two Buckeye defenders to follow a trailing teammate, freeing him some space to rip the net. Five minutes later, it was freshman midfielder
Carter Yepsen scoring the first goal of his career to make it 7-3.
It only took 19 seconds after Yepsen's tally before another freshman would find the back of the net for the first time. Redshirt junior midfielder
Chris Barney won the ensuing faceoff, punching the ball into the RMU offensive half where rookie long-stick midfielder
Zachary Bryant would scoop up the groundball. Bryant executed a pretty give-and-go with redshirt junior attackman
Eric Wales, scoring from the doorstep to cut the OSU lead to three.
Rose kept that deficit at three to close the half, making a big save on a Buckeye man-up opportunity.
The Colonials briefly carried that momentum into the third quarter as they made it a two-goal game just 1:44 into the stanza. After assisting on the last goal, Wales picked up his first tally in RMU colors by scoring off a nice feed from Rahe.
OSU responded by scoring twice to close the frame, once on a man-up opportunity.
The Buckeyes hit double-digits with another man-up tally nearly three minutes into the fourth quarter.
RMU scored with 5:23 remaining in the game to set the final as Laszkiewicz buried a pass from sophomore attackman
Justin Mayfield.
Rose made 11 saves and collected six groundballs in his collegiate debut.
Robert Morris returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 14 as it hosts Bellarmine in its home opener. Opening faceoff for the contest between the Colonials and Knights is set for 11:00 a.m. from Joe Walton Stadium.
