MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The No. 19
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team is not one to worry about scoreboard-watching, and on a day that saw a number of results around the conference and country break in its favor, it didn't get caught staring at its own scoreboard, either.
Redshirt junior attackman
Matt Schmidt put the Colonials (9-3, 3-1) in control of their first-ever matchup against the newest member of Division I lacrosse with a natural hat trick, and junior goalkeeper
Alex Heger, fresh off his addition to the 2018 Tewaaraton Award Watch List, slammed the door with 16 saves in a 14-5 win over Cleveland State (3-9) at Joe Walton Stadium Saturday night.
The RMU defense shut out the Vikings for 35:07 at one point, and it allowed only one goal in a span of 50:46 after weathering an early storm unrelated to the light rain that couldn't dampen the mood of a Colonials squad that has won three straight games in one week.
"They played tremendously. Alex made a lot of saves, and we caused a lot of turnovers and focused on getting the ball back at the beginning of possessions," head coach
Andrew McMinn said. "The 'D' did a great job of forcing the issue, getting out and getting the ball back."
"We just forced them to take shots from the outside," said Heger after earning his ninth victory in just under 55 minutes of action. "They didn't really get anything inside, other than one fast break, and we forced a lot of hard shots."
He became just the second Robert Morris player with 20 career wins in goal and needs just one more in two remaining regular-season games to break the school's single-year record.
Zachary Bryant, playing another strong game in front of him, reached a career milestone as well, joining
Sean Meagher '14 as the only other man in program history with 70 career caused turnovers. The senior defenseman ranks second only to Meagher on the RMU all-time list.
Bryant also set up the game's first goal, by fellow senior and Ontarian
Adrian Torok-Orban, who now has 84 career tallies to lead all active Colonials, tied for the eighth-most in team history. Exactly half have come against non-conference competition.
Talented rookie Michael Wilson snuck one past Heger for an early 2-1 CSU lead, but RMU's transition attack, spearheaded by Schmidt, took over, as did Heger, who went on to make eight first-quarter stops.
Schmidt finished off a one-timer from
Tyson Gibson at the left edge of the crease to tie the game with 3:46 left in the opening period, then put Robert Morris back on top to stay with half a minute to go on a beautiful turnaround shot from the left side over a defender's head and between the legs of Vikings keeper Stephen Russo.
He notched his team-leading 28th goal of the season and fifth HT of the year from the close left wing just 1:20 into the second quarter.
More staunch defense led to offense when another senior member of that D-corps,
Zac Christianson, dished to
Jimmy Perkins, who spun off a defender and beat Russo from in tight to make it 6-2 RMU and force a Cleveland State timeout with 7:54 remaining in the half.
"We talked about making sure we played a complete game," McMinn said. "We wanted to see the execution at both ends of the field, and, first and foremost, put together a full 60 minutes. We felt the guys addressed that, in both respects, and did a pretty good job overall doing what we wanted to do tonight."
Christianson, the reigning Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Week, led the team with four ground balls. The Colonials won the GB battle, 26-22, getting 17 from its substitutes.
That was but one of a number of ways they showcased their depth on this night. Rookies
Corson Kealey and
Jake Boudreau each scored twice during a 7-0 run with which Robert Morris opened the second half,
Eddie Smith contributed a man-up goal to that outburst with 9:09 left in the third and graduate student/co-captain
Justin Mayfield rounded out the scoring with 2:12 remaining in regulation.
Kealey and Mayfield also added assists, with the former aiding Schmidt's third goal.
David Sturgis had a helper of his own and scooped a pair of ground balls, and
Michael Clark chipped in a ground ball and a caused turnover after entering the game late.
"We've always felt very capable of going with a next-man-up philosophy. Every guy that got out there today, I thought, took advantage of the opportunities they had, and executed at the same level as the guys that were in before that," McMinn affirmed.
With conference co-leader Bryant falling to St. Joseph's earlier in the day, and Hobart stubbing its toe against Mount St. Mary's in other NEC action, the Colonials, as a team, still have a great opportunity before them.
No. 19 Robert Morris will host St. Joseph's, the only remaining NEC squad without a conference loss, in its regular-season finale Apr. 28. The Colonials enter next Saturday's 1:00 p.m. EDT game at conference rival Wagner just one game shy of sharing the NEC's top spot. The winner of the NEC Tournament automatically qualifies for the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, wins by Penn State and Georgetown, both previous RMU opponents, on Saturday improved the team's chances of grabbing an at-large bid, which would be the program's first NCAA Tournament berth of any kind.
True to form, however, the Colonials are focusing only on taking command of their own destiny.
"We're definitely excited for this 'W,'" Heger said. "We're going to celebrate tonight, and just look forward to next week."
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