Geneva, N.Y. – A balanced scoring attack from Bryant proved to be the key factor in the Bulldogs win, as the Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team saw its season end with a 12-3 loss to No. 2 seeded Bryant in the 2017 Northeast Conference Championship semifinals Thursday evening in Geneva, N.Y.
 
The Colonials (9-7, 4-2 NEC) end the year with nine overall wins to mark the most wins in a season for the program since 2012. Head coach Andrew McMinn was named NEC Coach of the Year, and freshman attack Ryan Smith earned the first NEC Rookie of the Year award for the program. Seven Colonials were named to All-NEC teams.
 
Bryant (9-7, 4-2 NEC) will face top seed and host of the tournament, Hobart (9-6, 5-1 NEC), in the Northeast Conference Championship title game on Saturday, May 6 at noon.
 
Sophomore midfield First Team All-NEC honoree Tyson Gibson scored two of the Colonials three goals on the day. Fellow sophomore midfield Shane Majewski also found the back of the net for Robert Morris. Redshirt junior Justin Mayfield tabbed an assist. Sophomore defenseman Mike Eveland, sophomore midfield Daniel Smith, and junior attack Adrian Torok-Orban each collected two ground balls. Sophomore goalkeeper and First Team All-NEC award winner Alex Heger made 15 saves.
 
Bryant extended an impressive scoring streak to eight goals with three tallies in the first five minutes of the final frame to take its largest lead of the day, 12-1. Robert Morris responded with back-to-back goals, but without enough time to battle back from the double-digit deficit.
 
The Bulldogs held the Colonials scoreless for the second consecutive frame in the third, and padded their advantage with two more goals to take a commanding, 9-1 lead.
 
Both goalies were strong to start the second period, but Bryant managed to sneak three past Heger late in the frame, starting with a man-up tally nearly 10 minutes into the quarter, to increase their advantage to six, 7-1, to end the half.
 
Bryant opened the game with a 4-0 run, as the Bulldogs maintained possession through the majority of the first period. With one second remaining in the first, Gibson used a spin move and buried one from the middle to put the Colonials on the board before time expired.
 
Seven different Bulldogs accounted for Bryant's 12 goals on the day. Bryant doubled Robert Morris in ground balls, 36-18, and outshot the Colonials, 39-26. The Bulldogs controlled the X, and won 14 out of 18 faceoffs.
 
 
Postseason Play
Robert Morris made its second consecutive appearance and fifth overall in the Northeast Conference Tournament. The Colonials are 1-4 in postseason games under head coach Andrew McMinn.
 
Consistency in the Cage
Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Heger's 15 saves in today's game help him set a new single-season saves record at Robert Morris, with a total of 204 saves made in 2017. He also set a new single-season standard in saves per game (12.75). As a team, RMU posted the lowest goals against average (10.31) in a season in Colonials lore.
 
Milestone Watch
Junior attack Adrian Torok-Orban is eight points away from recording his 100th career point (68G-24A-92PTS).
 
Trending
Sophomore midfield Tyson Gibson closed the season on a four-game point streak, and has posted a point in all but one game this season.
 
Share the Wealth
RMU's offensive production has been spread throughout the stat sheet across multiple players. Three different players have recorded 30 points or more this season. In total, 21 different Colonials have found the back of the net at least once in 2017.
 
Colonials in the Pros
There are currently eleven former Colonials from the Robert Morris men's lacrosse program competing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL).
 
 
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