MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- It took all season for the
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team to run into a goalkeeper who could truly upstage their own potential all-conference honoree, and that's what it would take to deny them their first regular-season Northeast Conference title since 2012.
The Colonials (10-4, 4-2) got a third hat trick in four games from redshirt junior attackmanÂ
Jimmy Perkins, his fifth HT of the year, and doubled up St. Joseph's (10-3, 6-0) in shots, 32-16, but two-time NEC Rookie of the Week Mike Adler made 12 stops, half in the fourth quarter alone, to help the Hawks eke out an 8-7 win on Senior Day at Joe Walton Stadium.
His junior counterpart,
Alex Heger, finished the regular campaign with 451 career saves for RMU, making him the school's all-time leader entering the postseason. Heger, a three-time NEC Defensive Player of the Week in 2018, also remains on pace for a program single-season record with his .598 save percentage.
St. Joseph's finishes atop the NEC after extending the longest win streak in its history to ten games and, with that, has the privilege of hosting the 2018 NEC Men's Lacrosse Tournament. No. 18/20 Robert Morris, for the second year in a row, is seeded third and draws second-seeded Bryant in the NEC Semifinal.
The Colonials begin pursuit of their first-ever tournament crown next Thursday, May 3, at Sweeney Field in Philadelphia at a time to be announced.
"That's a good lacrosse team we went up against. We might see them again, but right now, we're just gearing up for what's next with the tournament," said head coach
Andrew McMinn, putting a bow on the regular season. "Obviously, it was a hard-fought game, and we really tested the guys with their ground ball effort, and they did a great job there, especially in the first half."
RMU came out looking ready to play the sort of lunch-pail game McMinn desired, snagging 11 of 12 GB's in the second quarter and eventually winning that battle by a comfortable 37-20 margin. Unfortunately for the Colonials offense, the defensive struggle that seemed possible prior to the contest also came to fruition.
Entering this chilly Saturday afternoon, Robert Morris and SJU shared a team goals-against average of 7.92 that, in addition to potentially shattering the RMU single-year record of 10.31 set just last season, was tied for eighth in Division I. Still, the Colonials, with characteristic patience, willed their way to a 4-4 halftime tie.
After they fell behind early, Perkins got them on the board and even with 5:14 left in the opening frame. The Quaker Valley prodigy took a pass from
Brad McCulley and used his trademark wraparound maneuver to beat Adler for his 21st goal of the season.
Freshman
Corson Kealey had a more prompt answer when a knuckling shot by Evan Campbell fooled Heger. Only 1:03 later, the novice attackman penetrated the circle and scored off a dodge for his 14th in as many appearances.
The RMU defense, meanwhile, held veteran attackman Mike Rastivo off the scoresheet for the first time since Apr. 5, 2014, ending a streak of 52 straight games with a point that had been the fifth-longest in the nation. It also limited NEC Player of the Week Chris Blewitt to one goal, though his team-leading 22nd had the Hawks up 4-2 in the second.
Perkins, set up on the run by
Tyson Gibson after the Colonials won the ensuing faceoff, cut the deficit to one with a low laser from beyond the circle. That play moved Gibson up to sixth all-time at Robert Morris with 46 career helpers.
The junior midfielder then got a fast-break goal of his own when
Adrian Torok-Orban forced a bad clear just inside the center stripe. The Toronto native lobbed a perfect pass to
Matt Schmidt, creating a two-on-one that Gibson finished to tie it up with 5:15 until the break.
Gibson, who led the Colonials with four points, needed just 12 seconds to give them their first lead, burying his 17th on a snap shot from the right wing. He now has multiple points in his past ten outings and a point in 18 straight overall since Apr. 18, 2017.
Sophomore FOGO
Trey Arnold, a big part of his team's aforementioned dominance on ground balls, collected six and flipped the opening second-half faceoff to
Jack Toomb to begin the quick scoring play. Arnold was a career-best 13-for-17 (.765) from the X against the Hawks.
Toomb, the reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Week, registered a game-high seven GB's, while also causing two turnovers, to move into a tie with Brendan Arthur '08 for the fourth-most ground balls in program history (156). His 17 CT's this regular season equal his career high.
Matt Schmidt, the top RMU goal-getter for the second straight regular campaign, extended the lead to 6-4 in highlight-reel fashion just 38 seconds later. He sprinted through the close left wing and, at the last moment, somehow bounced one into the upper right-hand corner of the cage for his 30th of the year.
Punctuating his 14-game point streak, Perkins, from ten yards out, pulled the Colonials within one with not quite four minutes left in regulation, thanks to a centering feed from
Conner Yepsen. The NEC Prime Performer led Robert Morris with 49 regular-season points.
Meanwhile, Conner and twin brother
Carter Yepsen concluded their last regular-season game as collegians with a combined 74 points (35 G, 39 A), 66 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers all-time.
The Yepsens and Torok-Orban were part of a voluminous senior class honored before the opening faceoff. Defensemen
Zachary Bryant and
Zac Christianson; midfielders
Sean Doyle,
Leighton Gibson,
Marshall Gibson and
David Sturgis; long stick middie
Mitchell Wales and attackmanÂ
Justin Mayfield rounded out the group of 11 that took part in the pregame ceremony.
Bryant, who, for the third straight year, has established career highs in ground balls (29) and caused turnovers (34), is determined to prove their legacy is not yet done being written.
"Our team preaches a lot about that 2012 team," he said. "Hopefully, we can come out next week, come out on top and be known as 'that 2018 team' down the road."
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