Moon Township, Pa. – Behind the strength of hat tricks from junior
Luke Laszkiewicz and freshman
Adrian Torok-Orban, the
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team earned its first Northeast Conference (NEC) victory of the season, defeating Mount St. Mary's University this evening, 10-7, from Joe Walton Stadium.
Robert Morris (2-9, 1-3 NEC) committed just seven turnovers in the contest and held edges over Mount St. Mary's (4-7, 1-2 NEC) in shots (40-36), shots on goal (22-15), and groundballs (23-21).
Laszkiewicz's hat trick was the eighth of his career and his first since April 5, 2014 at Wagner, while it was Torok-Orban's first time scoring three goals in a game.
Freshman midfielder
Carter Yepsen led the Colonials with four points (1g, 3a), tying a career-high he had previously set twice.
The Mountaineers stormed out to a 3-0 lead before a, well, storm halted action at Joe Walton Stadium. After a lightning delay with 7:10 remaining in the first quarter delayed the contest 42 minutes, RMU dented the scoreboard courtesy of a Yepsen wrap-around goal to make it 3-1.
That remained the score for the next 11:12 before junior midfielder
Eric Rankel cashed in on a man-up opportunity off a feed from senior captain
Jacob Ruest. Rankel struck again two minutes later as he gathered a bounce pass from Yepsen and buried a shot from five yards out.
RMU took the lead with 2:37 left in the half when Laszkiewicz beat Mount St. Mary's goaltender Matt Vierheller with a wrap-around tally. The junior added the finishing touches to a dominant quarter with four seconds remaining as he ripped the net after corralling a pass from Yepsen.
The Colonials made it six consecutive goals just 52 seconds into the second half when Torok-Orban carried it in himself from the end line.
The Mountaineers stopped the bleeding with 5:39 remaining in the frame with a goal from Mikey Ripa. That seemed to spark Mount St. Mary's as it scored two more over the next minute to tie the game at 6-6.
The visitors then had a prime opportunity to take their first lead of the game when freshman defenseman
Mitchell Wales was booked for slashing. However, a crease violation on a missed shot opened things up for rookie midfielder
Sean Doyle, who sprinted down the field to tally a man-down goal.
Less than a minute later, Torok-Orban scored his second of the evening with a bouncing shot from nine yards out.
Laszkiewicz completed his hat trick early in the fourth quarter by ducking under a defender's stick and firing a shot past Vierheller. RMU then gained its largest lead of the game with 7:35 left in regulation when Yepsen found Torok-Orban with a nifty pass over the crossbar.
After scoring with 1:17 remaining to make it 10-7, the Mountaineers won the ensuing face-off and fired a quick shot past the cage. Freshman goaltender
Chase Rose beat the Mount St. Mary's attack to the end line, earning possession for the Colonials to seal the game.
Rose made eight saves to earn his second collegiate win.
Robert Morris begins a two-game road swing this Saturday when it heads to Bryant. Opening draw between the Colonials and Bulldogs is set for 1:00 p.m. from Bulldog Stadium.
