High Point, N.C. – The
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team went into the fourth quarter tied with High Point University, but the hosts would have the last laugh as they toppled the Colonials, 13-10, this afternoon from Vert Stadium.
Robert Morris (0-4, 0-0 NEC) held a 9-7 lead in the third quarter, but High Point (3-3, 0-0 SoCon) rattled off five consecutive goals to earn the victory.
Luke Laszkiewicz,
James Rahe, and
Carter Yepsen each tallied two goals for the Colonials. Rahe paced the team with three points on the afternoon.
After a goal from the Panthers' Matt Thistle opened the scoring three minutes in, RMU responded with tallies from freshman
Sean Doyle and Rahe to take the lead.
HPU regained a one-goal advantage with two tallies, but the Colonials scored twice within 1:11 to go up 5-4. Yepsen and Laszkiewicz registered the RMU tallies during its mini-run; the latter of which coming off a fast break created by senior defenseman
Luc Magnan.
The Panthers continued the back-and-forth theme of the first half, scoring two goals in 17 seconds to take the lead once again.
The Colonials would answer with a three-goal rally to earn the lead after 30 minutes. Redshirt junior
Eric Wales ignited the run with his third goal of the season, finding the back of the net as he was falling down. Freshman attack
Adrian Torok-Orban kept the play alive by maintaining his balance following a good check by a HPU defender.
Yepsen added his second goal of the afternoon with 2:36 remaining in the second quarter, then Rahe scored 32 seconds later with a left-handed rip after freshman midfielder
David Sturgis sparked a counter attack with a long pass from the defensive half.
The Panthers rebounded to tie the game with a goal late in the half and another nine seconds into the third quarter.
RMU took its last lead of the game with goals from sophomore
Marshall Gibson and junior
Eric Rankel. Gibson's tally came off a nice feed across the arc from Rahe, while Rankel capitalized on a man-up opportunity off a pass from senior
Jacob Ruest.
HPU battled back with goals at the 6:33 and 4:26 marks of the frame, then took the lead with 13:40 left in regulation. In all, the Panthers scored five straight to take a 12-9 advantage into the final minutes of the game.
Laszkiewicz tallied his second of the afternoon on a wrap-around with 2:50 remaining, but HPU answered 1:05 later to set the final.
Sophomore
Brett Cass made 11 saves in his first career start. Freshman
Chase Rose replaced him with 11:01 left and stopped three of the five shots he faced.
Robert Morris continues non-conference play next Saturday as it comes home to host Siena. Opening draw between the Colonials and Saints is set for 1:00 p.m. from Joe Walton Stadium.
