Men's Lacrosse | 2/16/2018 8:33:00 AM
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team returns to Joe Walton Stadium for its 2018 home opener against Georgetown University Saturday afternoon. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., and admission is free.
Robert Morris vs. (RV) Georgetown - Feb. 17
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The Colonials (1-1) are coming off their first regular-season victory, a 15-7 triumph at longtime non-conference rival Bellarmine Feb. 9. They ripped off six unanswered goals in the first half to take control of the game, setting the stage for their second consecutive win over the Knights.
This is the third of six non-conference matches to begin the season for RMU, which follows that string to No. 16 Penn State next weekend.
Fans are encouraged to help the team support the Children's Cancer Recovery Foundation through this year's Northeast Conference "Money Wars."
Click here to donate, and all donations will be used to cover the shipping costs of CCRF's Bear-Able Gifts program, the largest supplier of new toys to cancer-stricken children in North America.
SCOUTING GEORGETOWN
Georgetown (1-0) received votes in the latest Maverik Men's Division I Media Poll published by Inside Lacrosse Magazine. Junior attackman Daniel Bucaro will be one of the focal points of the Hoyas offense.
The Preseason All-Big East Conference selection opened his 2018 regular season with a pair of goals and three assists in a 15-5 romp Tuesday over visiting High Point, which provides the competition for RMU in its next home game Mar. 3. Bucaro is riding a 16-game goal-scoring streak dating back to Apr. 30, 2016, the fifth-longest active goal streak in the NCAA's top division.
He has cashed in 45 times during that span, and he is coming off a First Team All-Big East sophomore campaign that was one of the best in program history (40 goals, 53 points).
Senior midfielder Craig Berge made the preseason all-conference team as well, and this year he aims to become just the 20th player in GU history to record 100 career points. Senior keeper Nick Marrocco, the D-I active career leader in saves (502), steadies the Hoyas defense.
AGAINST THE HOYAS
Robert Morris seeks its first win over a Big East team. Georgetown prevailed 12-7 at Cooper Field in Washington, D.C. Mar. 7, 2017 in the first-ever meeting, in which a 5-1 second quarter allowed the Hoyas to offset a second-half rally and end a four-game win streak by RMU.
Eight different players registered a point for Robert Morris, including
Tyson Gibson, who paced the Colonials offense with two goals and an assist. It was the fifth multi-point game in a six-game span for the eventual All-Northeast Conference honoree.
Carter Yepsen was also productive from his own midfield spot with a goal and an assist.
Long-stick midfielders
Jack Toomb and
Zachary Bryant led the Colonials defense with four ground balls apiece.
MUSKET SHOTS
Three's Company
Redshirt junior
Jimmy Perkins and freshman
Corson Kealey joined senior Cam Ziegler and freshman Marc O'Rourke of Bryant as the first players in the NEC to reach three goals on the very young season. Kealey collected his first collegiate point on Perkins' first goal, with 9:53 left in the third quarter at Rutgers Feb. 3. Perkins returned the favor by setting up Kealey's first goal with 4:13 to go in the third at Bellarmine Feb. 9, and, just 2:06 later, assisted on the goal that completed Kealey's first Robert Morris hat trick.
"Bob"-ing For Apples
Perkins was named an NEC Prime Performer Feb. 12 for setting a new single-game Robert Morris record with six assists at Bellarmine.
Tyson Gibson, on Apr. 29, 2017, versus Hobart, was the last to match the old record of five. Perkins also became the eighth different RMU player with an eight-point game, and the first since
Matt Schmidt versus Wagner Apr. 8, 2017.
Toomb Raider
Jack Toomb picked up the first Northeast Conference weekly award of his career Feb. 12, when he was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week. He caused a pair of turnovers in each of his first two regular-season outings, and, on Feb. 9, accounted for five of ten turnovers caused by the Colonials. Toomb became the seventh different RMU player with five in a game and the first to accomplish the feat since
Zachary Bryant versus Mount St. Mary's Mar. 25, 2017. It is tied for the third-best single-game total in program history.
Yo Adrian!
Adrian Torok-Orban is an integral part of the RMU scoring depth returning in 2018, having finished second on the team with 27 goals in 2017. Last year at Georgetown he got his 12th of the season, and, at the time, he was one of 25 players nationally riding a point streak of 20-plus games (44 G, 14 A in 21 GP), a run that dated back to Apr. 25, 2015. He scored ten minutes into the first quarter at then-No. 7/8 Rutgers Feb. 3, meaning his next goal will make him just the ninth player in program history to notch 70 for his career.
Hey Arnold!
Trey Arnold went 10-for-19 from the X Feb. 9, putting him at .500 on the year. This is ahead of his .445 freshman clip, good for ninth in the NEC and a spot on the NEC All-Rookie Team. Joining him on the All-Rookie squad was NEC Rookie of the Year
Ryan Smith, the first such honoree in RMU history, who has two goals in as many games, including the Colonials' first man-up tally of 2018 with 5:14 left in the first quarter at Bellarmine.
Take Me To Your Leader
For the second year in a row, head coach
Andrew McMinn has selected
Marshall Gibson and
Justin Mayfield to captain the Colonials. Meanwhile,
Leighton Gibson and
Sean Doyle round out their 2018 leadership group.
Marshall Gibson got his first two goals of the year off the Robert Morris bench in the second quarter at Bellarmine, while Mayfield collected two ground balls against the Knights. Doyle also got on the board for the first time in Louisville last week with the tenth RMU goal of the day, while
Leighton Gibson saw his first regular-season action of 2018.
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Colonials have had a history of brothers playing together, and with three sets on the roster, this season is no different. Besides the aforementioned Gibsons, the Yepsens (Carter and Conner) and Sturgises (Will and David) make up the RMU family who are literal family.
Mitchell Wales and
Corson Kealey are also part of RMU brotherly duos; Mitchell's brother, Eric, is a Robert Morris alumnus from the Class of '16, and Corson is the younger brother of 2014 All-NEC Rookie Team standout JonPatrik "JP" Kealey. The last time the Colonials did not have a set of brothers on their roster was 2010.
From Bobby Mo To Pro
Twelve former Colonials have competed in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) since 2016. The elder Kealey became the latest, and also the 20th RMU alumnus drafted into the indoor circuit since 2005, scoring his first pro goal for the New England Black Wolves Dec. 23, 2017.
A Call To The Hall
On Feb. 2 Kiel Matisz, another of the ex-Colonials currently playing professionally, became the first RMU men's lacrosse player inducted into the Robert Morris Athletics Hall of Fame. "Moose," a former All-American and NEC Player of the Year now with the NLL champion Georgia Swarm, recorded 166 career points (94 G, 72 A), the third-most in school history.
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