Fairfield, Conn. – Despite a five-goal fourth quarter rally, the
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team dropped its Northeast Conference (NEC) opener to Sacred Heart University, 12-10, Saturday afternoon from Campus Field.
Nine different players scored for Robert Morris (1-6, 0-1 NEC), led by junior attack
Luke Laszkiewicz's two goals. Sacred Heart (4-2, 1-0 NEC) used an 18-save performance from goaltender Jon Flood to earn the victory.
Facing a 12-5 deficit after Ian Farley's second tally of the afternoon, redshirt junior
Chris Barney sparked the Colonial comeback attempt with a win on the ensuing faceoff. Freshman long-stick midfielder
Zachary Bryant would be the recipient of the RMU's first goal of the closing stanza with a shot from just outside the football hash marks.
The Colonials added two more over the next 1:10. Laszkiewicz cashed in on a man-up chance after gathering a feed from classmate
Eric Rankel, then rookie long-stick midfielder
Mitchell Wales scored his first career goal 11 seconds later after Barney won another draw at the dot.
The Pioneers held the RMU rush in check for the following 3:25 before junior midfielder
James Rahe struck with his 13th goal of the season. Freshman midfielder
Carter Yepsen then picked up the groundball on another Barney faceoff victory and fed redshirt junior attack
Eric Wales, who buried it from the doorstep to make it 12-10.
Barney won his 16th and final draw seconds later, but a turnover on the ensuing possession put a close to the comeback attempt.
Yepsen opened the scoring 2:11 in with the 10th goal of his rookie campaign. The teams then traded the next four goals, with the Colonials receiving tallies from senior long-stick midfielder
Michael Seidel and Barney. Laszkiewicz made it 4-2 after 15 minutes of play with a shot on the run after gathering a pass from Rankel.
Sophomore midfielder
Alexander Bohl scored his second goal in as many games to push the RMU lead to 5-3 in the second quarter, but SHU responded with nine unanswered goals over the next 23:51 to seal the victory.
Freshman goaltender
Chase Rose made nine saves in the loss.
The Colonials held edges in shots (41-29), shots on goal (28-21), and faceoffs (15-11).
Robert Morris returns home to begin a two-game homestand this Tuesday as No. 5 Maryland comes to Moon Township. This will be the Colonials' first home non-conference game against a Top 10 foe since April 17, 2010 when they hosted No. 3 North Carolina. Opening draw between RMU and the Terrapins is set for 4:00 p.m. from Joe Walton Stadium.
