Moon Township, Pa. – Hobart College tied the game with 35 seconds remaining in regulation and later scored in overtime, stunning the
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team, 7-6, in Northeast Conference (NEC) play this afternoon from a chilly Joe Walton Stadium.
Robert Morris (1-8, 0-2 NEC) controlled the majority of the game, leading for 54:40. However, Hobart (5-3, 2-0 NEC) earned its second straight overtime victory behind a four-goal performance by Alex Love.
Freshman goaltender
Chase Rose was strong in the cage, stopping nine shots in the defeat. Redshirt junior midfielder
Chris Barney went 10 for 16 on face-offs.
Junior midfielder
James Rahe was the only Colonial to score twice, while freshman attack
Adrian Torok-Orban dished out three assists. The two opened the scoring two minutes in as the rookie found the veteran standing alone in the middle of the box.
Six minutes later RMU made it 2-0 after a long possession as freshman
Carter Yepsen buried a feed from junior
Eric Rankel.
The Statesmen would get one back with 3:32 left in the frame when Love scored his first of the afternoon. However, just 29 seconds later, the Colonials regained a two-goal edge as freshman long stick midfielder
Mitchell Wales took advantage of some Hobart defensive confusion.
Love set up the next Statesmen tally, successfully completing a hidden ball trick with Frank Brown. RMU would respond immediately once more with a win off the ensuing draw, as
Conner Yepsen found the groundball and dished it to fellow rookie
Zachary Bryant. The rookie long stick midfielder dished it across the alley to a waiting
Luke Laszkiewicz, who ripped the net with just six seconds remaining in the quarter.
The second quarter came and went without a goal, marking the first time that has happened in program history. Hobart fired 12 shots in the stanza, but only two made it to the cage.
The Statesmen scored the first two goals of the second half to tie the game at 4-4. That stalemate would last all of 2:42 however, as Torok-Orban found redshirt junior attack
Eric Wales on the doorstep with a nifty no-look pass over his shoulder to give the Colonials a 5-4 advantage.
After Rahe tallied his second of the contest a minute into the fourth quarter, the Colonials looked to go up 7-4 with another long spell in their offensive half. Torok-Orban again connected with Wales at the doorstep, but the ensuing goal was waved off due to a crease violation.
Brendan Saylor of Hobart made it 6-5 with a goal from the side of the cage. He went back to the same move the following possession, but another crease violation waved off the would-be tying goal.
After a timeout, Love completed a hat trick to knot the game up at 6-6. The Statesmen rode that momentum towards a win on the ensuing draw, but senior defenseman
Luc Magnan stopped the attack by forcing a turnover behind the net.
Barney won the opening face-off of overtime as the groundball trickled to
Carter Yepsen. RMU called a timeout once it reached the box, but Hobart gained possession by forcing a turnover near the crease.
The Statesmen methodically moved the ball out of a timeout, forcing the officials to put on the shot clock. Love capitalized with the pressure on, rifling a low shot from 12 yards out that evaded traffic and found the back of the net.
This is the first time since 2011 that the Colonials have played multiple overtime contests in a season.
Robert Morris travels across the state next Saturday to the City of Brotherly Love to take on Saint Joseph's. Opening draw between the Colonials and Hawks is set for 1:00 p.m. from Sweeney Field.
