Moon Township, Pa. –
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse junior midfielder
Eric Rankel registered a fourth-quarter natural hat trick to tie a career-high with six goals, helping lift the Colonials over Siena College this afternoon, 12-10, from an overcast Joe Walton Stadium.
Robert Morris (1-4, 0-0 NEC) also received multi-goal performances from juniors
James Rahe and
Luke Laszkiewicz, who each scored twice. Siena (3-3, 0-0 MAAC), an NCAA Tournament team last season, had four different players with two goals on the afternoon.
Rankel, who scored six goals as a freshman in the 2013 Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament against Quinnipiac, added an assist in the third quarter to set a new career standard in points with seven. The junior also contributed on the defensive end, forcing two turnovers and scooping up four groundballs.
Redshirt junior attack
Eric Wales answered the Saints' opening goal with his fourth of the season as he buried a feed from freshman midfielder
Carter Yepsen in front of the cage. Siena responded with two tallies and seemed poised to take a two-goal advantage into the second quarter, but with five seconds remaining in the frame Rahe made it 3-2 by ripping the net from an awkward angle on the left side.
The Saints committed an illegal procedure penalty on the opening faceoff of the second quarter, giving the Colonials' red-hot man-up offense a chance to tie the game. The hosts did just that late in the man advantage as Laszkiewicz ripped a laser from left of the arc off a pass from Rahe.
The two teams continued to trade goals to end the first half. Rankel picked up his first two tallies of the afternoon in the final five minutes, scoring with a scoop shot at the 14:56 mark and after scooping up a groundball with 45 seconds left.
After Siena scored 1:18 into the second half to regain the lead, redshirt senior captain
Joseph Scenna sparked a counter-attack by causing a turnover and flipping it to Yepsen. The freshman sprinted into the offensive zone and found Laszkiewicz, who buried the feed to tie it at six all.
The Saints responded immediately as a faceoff win set up a goal from Michael Pettit. RMU would have an answer less than three minutes later on its second man-up chance of the game as Rankel completed his first hat trick after senior captain
Jacob Ruest found him inside the arc.
Yepsen gave the Colonials their first lead of the game with 8:01 remaining in the quarter with a running shot from the right side off a pass from Rankel. However, Siena would knot things up once again with a goal from Ryan Mallon just a minute and 10 seconds later.
Rankel started his historic run 2:37 into the fourth quarter as he carried the ball to the top of the arc and unleashed a left-handed rip that found netting under the crossbar. A minute later, the junior found the back of the net again to extend the Colonial lead to two.
The Downingtown, Pa. native completed the natural hat trick with 6:23 left in the game with another shot from the top of the arc.
The Saints started to march back with two minutes remaining as Chris Robertson made it 11-9 with a tally from the doorstep. It became a one-goal game 28 seconds later when Conor Prunty scored out of a timeout.
However, RMU sealed up its first win of the season with 20 seconds left as Rahe ripped the net off a feed from Yepsen.
Freshman goaltender
Chase Rose made seven saves on the afternoon to pick up his first career win.
Redshirt junior midfielder
Chris Barney won 12 of 24 draws from the dot and gathered a team-high six groundballs.
Robert Morris travels to the Sunshine State next for a mid-week game at Jacksonville. The Colonials and Dolphins will play on Wednesday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m. from D.B. Milne Field in a non-conference contest broadcasted by ESPN3.
