Men's Lacrosse | 3/9/2018 1:46:00 PM
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team aims for its third win in a row when it visits the Golden Eagles of Marquette University Saturday afternoon, concluding a season-opening string of six non-conference games. The opening faceoff from MU's Valley Fields in Milwaukee is set for 2:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. CT.
(RV) Robert Morris at #19/18 Marquette - Mar. 10
LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
This marks the third time already this season the Colonials (3-2) will have faced a nationally ranked opponent. The last time they played against three or more ranked teams in a single season was 2014.
RMU began a challenging first month of 2018 regular-season play by falling at then-No. 7/8 Rutgers Feb. 3, but it attracted national attention by going into Panzer Stadium and toppling then-No. 16/15 Penn State by a 12-9 score Feb. 24.
The Colonials are coming off their first home victory of the year, a 16-11 triumph over High Point Mar. 3 that followed their win over PSU.
SCOUTING MARQUETTE
The Golden Eagles (3-1) return home from a split of the annual Midwest Lacrosse Classic in Pontiac, Michigan ranked No. 19 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Men's Division I Poll and No. 18 in the Maverik Media Poll published by Inside Lacrosse Magazine. They upset last year's NCAA Tournament runner-up, Ohio State, 8-7 in overtime Mar. 2 before Bellarmine, which lost to RMU Feb. 9, turned the tables on them with a 9-8, double-OT victory Mar. 4.
Junior attackman John Wagner shares the team lead in points entering Saturday, with 12 (seven goals, five assists), and his second goal last Friday was the overtime winner. Wagner, its only returning offensive starter, also scored twice at Robert Morris last season, starting a 9-0 run that helped MU break an early tie.
Sophomore defenseman Nick Grill (eight ground balls, two caused turnovers in 2018) was named to the All-Big East Preseason Team, and he made the Big East Weekly Honor Roll for his efforts against OSU.
AGAINST THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Robert Morris seeks not only its first win over Marquette in three all-time meetings, let alone its first in Milwaukee, but also its first victory over a current Big East member.
Adrian Torok-Orban scored twice for the Colonials in the first contest between the two Mar. 12, 2016. On Mar. 11, 2017, RMU bowed to MU at Joe Walton Stadium, 14-7, during an unusual stretch of schedule that had the Colonials playing their third non-conference match in under a week.
Tyson Gibson led the offense with two goals,
Jack Toomb put forth a commendable defensive effort with a team-best five ground balls and
Trey Arnold had one of his better games from the X as a rookie, going 11-for-21 (.524) on faceoffs and adding three GB's and a goal.
MUSKET SHOTS
Taking A Dip In The Poll
The Colonials continued receiving votes in the Maverik Media Poll. They and Sacred Heart, which also received votes, were the Northeast Conference representatives in this week's poll. This marks the second straight year and third of the
Andrew McMinn era that Robert Morris has gotten votes in a major national poll at some point.
About Schmidt
Matt Schmidt got his first NEC Player of the Week award after his game-high four goals and eight points in last Saturday's win over HPU. He is just the second different RMU player in history with two career eight-point games (last: vs. Wagner, Apr. 8, 2017). Schmidt earned his second hat trick in three games, and he now has four straight multiple-goal games. He is up to fifth in the NEC in goals per game (2.20), and six of his 18 points have come against teams from Power 5 conferences.
Power Play
Schmidt scored two of his man-up goals last Saturday, and
Adrian Torok-Orban converted twice in extra-man situations that day as well. It marked the first time since Feb. 21, 2015 (at Detroit) that the RMU offense scored four man-up goals in a single game.
Yo Adrian!
On Feb. 17 versus Georgetown, Torok-Orban became only the ninth player in Robert Morris history to score 70 career goals. Last year against Marquette he scored a man-down goal to extend his point streak at the time to 22 games. He was one of 25 players nationally to own a point streak of 20-plus games at that point.
Never Stop Stopping
Alex Heger was named an NEC Prime Performer for the second straight week after making a season-high 15 saves versus High Point, along with a .652 save percentage, in 56:22 of action. RMU is third in the NEC in team goals-against average (10.00) and save percentage (.528).
Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now
The Colonials caused 12 turnovers versus High Point, equal to the dozen they induced from the Golden Eagles a year ago. Robert Morris is up to fifth nationally with an average of 9.80 caused turnovers per game, and ten different players registered one against the Panthers.
All Clear
Robert Morris ranks sixth in Division I with its .932 clearing percentage. RMU was 15-for-18 on clear attempts, and it turned the ball over just 12 times the last time it faced Marquette.
Take Me To Your Leader
For the second year in a row, McMinn chose
Marshall Gibson and
Justin Mayfield to captain the Colonials, and
Leighton Gibson and
Sean Doyle round out their 2018 leadership group. Mayfield had a pair of assitsts and ground balls in last year's meeting with the Golden Eagles.
An Apple A Day...
Led by the 13 helpers from
Jimmy Perkins, Robert Morris is pacing the NEC with 7.60 assists per game, and it also leads the conference with a 19.80 points-per-game average. Those figures, respectively, rank 11th and tied for 14th in D-I.
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Besides the aforementioned Gibsons, the Yepsens (Carter and Conner) and Sturgises (Will and David) make up the RMU family who are literal family. Meanwhile, Eric Wales '16 is the older brother of
Mitchell Wales, who scooped three ground balls and caused one of 16 High Point turnovers Mar. 3, and
Corson Kealey is the younger brother of 2014 All-NEC Rookie Team standout JonPatrik "JP" Kealey. Robert Morris has had a set of brothers on its roster every year since 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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