Men's Lacrosse | 9/26/2018 1:52:00 PM

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Two key players for the 2018 Northeast Conference champion Robert Morris men's lacrosse team will have the opportunity to ply their trade in the National Lacrosse League.

Class of '18 defensemen Zachary Bryant and Zac Christianson were selected 50th and 52nd, respectively, by the expansion San Diego Seals to close out the fourth round of the 2018 NLL Entry Draft in Philadelphia Tuesday night. They became the 21st and 22nd Colonials alumni ever to be drafted into the indoor circuit.

This marks the fourth year in a row at least one former RMU player has been drafted. During that span, JonPatrik "JP" Kealey (New England Black Wolves, 2017), Luke Laszkiewicz (Rochester Knighthawks, 2016), James Rahe (Vancouver Stealth, 2016), Luc Magnan (Toronto Rock, 2015), Michael Seidel (Georgia Swarm, 2015) and Jacob Ruest (Calgary Roughnecks, 2015) have had that honor.

For Bryant, the reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Year, it is the second opportunity he has had this year to prolong his career in the sport. The 6'5", 210-pound Oshawa, Ontario native and Monsignor John Pereyma product was also chosen by the Ohio Machine with the 45th overall pick in the fifth round of the Major League Lacrosse Draft Apr. 18.

He debuted with the 2017 MLL champions June 2, making him just the fifth different Colonial to play in the league, and finished the outdoor season with 11 ground balls and seven caused turnovers in nine games played, scoring his first goal as a pro versus the Denver Outlaws June 23.

Bryant, a two-time all-conference defender, posted a career-high 37 caused turnovers in 2018 and pocketed a personal-best 36 ground balls. He finished his final collegiate season eighth in Division I with an average of 2.06 CT's per game, and his 77 all-time put him second in program history behind Sean Meagher '14.

Additionally, Bryant matched his career high with five points in 2018, scoring the first goal of the regular season for the Colonials at No. 7/8 Rutgers Feb. 3 and scoring again in a 12-6 NCAA Opening Round triumph at Canisius May 9, the first NCAA Tournament win in team history. He helped the RMU defense protect a 7-1 halftime lead and shut out the Golden Griffins for 28:35 at one point.

He formally accepted his Defensive Player of the Year award at the annual NEC awards banquet on the campus of Saint Joseph's University May 2, the first RMU player to get that distinction since Meagher in 2013. Bryant then helped the Colonials shut out the host Hawks for a 30:55 stretch while rallying to win the tournament championship game May 5.

On Apr. 10, in an 11-9 win at Canisius, Bryant became the only Colonial besides Meagher to record five or more CT's in a game twice in one year, and he made the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) D-I Team of the Week for causing six in a 12-9 upset of No. 16/15 Penn State Feb. 24.

Four days after joining the Machine, Bryant formally received his 2017 team Most Valuable Player award, as well as the 2017-18 Robert Morris Male Presidential Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, after attaining a 3.90 GPA while majoring in Biology, minoring in Chemistry and pursuing a career in optometry.

He would go on to be named co-winner of the Spring 2018 NEC Scholar-Athlete Award for men's lacrosse, a Third Team Media All-American by Inside Lacrosse Magazine, a First Team All-ECAC (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference) selection and an Honorable Mention USILA (United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association) All-American.

Christianson also played a big hand defensively in his team's historic postseason run, and on many more occasions for the Colonials last season. He caused two Griffins turnovers and collected two ground balls while getting his own first taste of May Madness, and in the First Round game at No. 1 Maryland, he passed Laszkiewicz for the program's all-time record in starts with his 58th.

The 6'1", 170-pound Victoria, British Columbia native and Claremont Secondary product registered a career-high 24 caused turnovers in 2018 and finished with 37 GB's, one shy of matching his single-season best. He caused five turnovers in a 10-9 overtime win at Hobart Apr. 7, becoming the eighth different Robert Morris player with five or more in a single game.

Ultimately, Christianson joined Bryant on the All-NEC First Team and All-NEC Tournament Team, and the former was also one of three different Robert Morris players to take the NEC Defensive Player of the Week award in a three-week span Apr. 9-23.

He would finish his collegiate career tied for third in school history, right behind Bryant, with his 65 career CT's. His 62 total games played is also good for third all-time, and he ranks eighth in RMU lore with 126 career ground balls.

Robert Morris (13-5), ranked No. 15 in the final Inside Lacrosse media poll of the year, set a new single-season record for team wins in 2018 with Bryant and Christianson as regulars. It ranked third in the NCAA with an average of 9.39 caused turnovers per game, eighth in Division I with its .910 clearing percentage and fifth in man-down defense (.771).

The Colonials ended their 2018 season tied for fifth in the nation with their team GAA of 8.00, smashing the team record of 10.31 established in 2017.

Three Robert Morris alumni have now been picked up by NLL teams over the past month, as Class of '17 midfielder Alexander Bohl signed a one-year deal with the Roughnecks to join their defensive corps on Aug. 29.

With the selection of RMU Athletics Hall-of-Famer Kiel Matisz '12 by the Philadelphia Wings in the NLL Expansion Draft July 16, the Saskatchewan Rush remain the only active NLL franchise never to have employed a player with Robert Morris ties.

A number of former Colonials are expected to return to Joe Walton Stadium for their first fall ball event of the 2018-19 season, the annual Alumni Game. The game is scheduled for Fri., Oct. 5 at 7:00 p.m. EDT, part of Robert Morris University's Homecoming Weekend.

Registrants can visit BobbyMoLaxEvents.com for further event information.

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