Men's Lacrosse | 4/23/2018 5:50:00 PM
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The No. 18/20
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team, ultimately, had its way on both ends of the field at Wagner Saturday in capturing its fourth straight victory, and two Colonials, one at either end, have been touted for doing their part to bring the team closer to a Northeast Conference regular-season championship.
Junior long stick midfielder/defenseman
Jack Toomb has won his second NEC Defensive Player of the Week Award, announced Monday afternoon, and redshirt junior attackman
Jimmy Perkins has been named an NEC Prime Performer. Toomb last won the award Feb. 12, the first time NEC weekly honors were given out this season.
This is the sixth time this year a Colonial has taken Defensive Player of the Week honors, with Toomb becoming the third different one in as many weeks.
The 6'2", 190-pound Cincinnati native collected a game- and season-high five ground balls, sharing the team lead with
Zac Christianson and
Daniel Smith, as RMU handily won the GB battle by a 41-21 margin in its 15-5 rout of its NEC rival at Hameline Field on Staten Island, New York. He also assisted on a
David Sturgis goal 16 seconds into the fourth quarter and paced the Colonials with two caused turnovers.
Although Robert Morris could only manage four first-half scores against the stubborn Seahawks, its stifling defense, including Toomb, shut out Wagner for the first 18:35 of its Senior Day contest and gave the Colonials a three-goal lead at the midpoint of a game they busted open with a 6-0 tear and 7-2 finish to the third quarter.
Toomb and RMU limited their host to two goals until the final three seconds of the penultimate period.
"We pride ourselves on our communication as a whole. I've got to give [Assistant] Coach [Rob] Marasti credit on that one," the Archbishop Moeller product said after the game. "He gives us a great gameplan to come into every single week with. I think we just work together, which is something fun to be a part of."
The Colonials were a perfect 3-for-3 in man-down situations and a near-flawless 29-for-30 on clearing attempts. Respectively, they now rank second and eighth in the NCAA in both categories and lead their conference in both.
Perkins, meanwhile, continues to author a great hometown success story in 2018. The 5'8", 170-pound Pittsburgh prodigy registered the second eight-point game of his career Saturday, matching his personal high with four goals and four assists. He tops the NEC with his 26 helpers and now leads Robert Morris with his 46 points.
On Saturday the former multi-sport champion at nearby Quaker Valley High School, already just the ninth individual in RMU history with eight or more points in a game, became just the fifth different player in program lore to accomplish the feat twice. He is only the fourth, however, to do it twice in the same season (last: Feb. 9 at Bellarmine).
Seahawks goalkeeper Matt Sefcik made an impressive 17 saves in defeat, but Perkins beat him once in each of the first two quarters to help the Colonials preserve their halftime advantage. In the third, Perkins calmly helped the offense milk 1:32 off the clock while waiting for just the right moment to connect withÂ
Tyson Gibson, who beat Sefcik from the low left wing for a 5-1 lead.
When Wagner answered off the ensuing faceoff, Gibson wasted little time trading places with Perkins, who then completed his fourth hat trick of the year and second in his last three outings on a low line drive from the left elbow with 11:25 remaining in the period.
Perkins later aided aÂ
Carter Yepsen goal from 12 yards out before reaching the 20-goal plateau with 2:22 left in the third. He spun away from a defender and threw one past Sefcik while diving across the lip of the goal mouth for an 11-2 Colonial cushion.
"Hats off to those guys," Toomb would later add about the RMU attack. "They find the open looks, day in and day out, and it's been really fun to watch them and be on their team this year. We're going to keep looking forward and riding those guys, and, hopefully, they can keep doing what they're doing."
The Colonials lead the NEC with an average of 12.08 goals per game, and they ranks 12th in the NCAA with a 19.54 points-per-game average, thanks in large part to Perkins' 13-game point streak.
No. 18/20 Robert Morris hosts conference-leading St. Joseph's in its 2018 Senior Day game Saturday. Opening faceoff from Joe Walton Stadium is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EDT, and admission is free.
This past Saturday, Toomb and Perkins helped their team to just its second ten-win season in program history, and another win this approaching Saturday would forge a three-way tie with the Hawks and Bryant for the NEC regular-season championship. That tiebreaker would come down to fewest goals yielded in games between those teams.
Entering Saturday, RMU sits at ten goals allowed in such games, St. Joseph's is at seven and Bryant is at 21. Robert Morris bowed to the Bulldogs 10-7 Mar. 30, but St. Joseph's then toppled Bryant 14-7 on Apr. 14.
The only other regular-season NEC crown for Robert Morris came in 2012, the first year as head coach for
Andrew McMinn, who, minimally, has already led his team to a third straight NEC Tournament berth, fifth in his tenure and sixth all-time. The regular-season champion will host the tournament May 3-5.
The Colonials rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Hawks 13-7 in their last meeting, Apr. 1, 2017 at Sweeney Field in Philadelphia.
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