WASHINGTON -- The
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team got lots more offense, lots more defense, lots more possession and lots more big saves on Saturday afternoon, and it got to serve notice that its disappointing season opener was an anomaly. One thing it still didn't get, however, is a result.
A 5-1 run by No. 17/16 Georgetown (2-0) in the game's final 11:21 was enough for the Hoyas to slip past the Colonials (0-2) in a 14-11 non-conference contest at Cooper Field. Both defenses stiffened considerably after the teams combined for ten first-quarter scores, but Robert Morris never trailed until Daniel Bucaro set up Jake Carraway for an 11-10 Georgetown advantage with 7:36 left.
Bucaro, a unanimous Preseason All-Big East pick, provided what held up as the game-winner just under four minutes later en route to a six-point performance.
Faceoff specialist
Trey Arnold gave RMU ample opportunity to put the Hoyas on their heels early. The junior FOGO went 18-for-28 from the X, and his game- and career-high 12 ground balls tie for the third-most ever collected by a Colonial in a single game.
No other player had scooped that many GB's in a game for Robert Morris since
Chris Barney accumulated a dozen at Bellarmine Feb. 15, 2014. The 18 faceoff wins were also a career high for Arnold, and his .643 win percentage was his best since he went .680 (17-for-25) as a rookie against Mount St. Mary's Mar. 25, 2017.
Arnold prevailed in the first three scrums of the day, and in addition to scoring his first goal since the 2018 postseason off another faceoff win, he opened the door for early strikes by the Colonials attack.
Senior midfielder
Eddie Smith buried his first goal of the season from the right wing 55 seconds into the game, and 45 seconds after Carraway got the Hoyas on the board, junior attackmanÂ
Ryan Smith cut in front of the crease from deep on the left side and went upstairs on goalkeeper Owen McElroy, prompting head coach Kevin Warne to burn an early GU timeout.
Ryan Smith also paid a physical price to close out an already dramatic opening period, splitting two defenders in close range and squeezing a diving shot past McElroy for a 6-4 Robert Morris lead 1.2 seconds before the horn. Junior midfielder
Austin Popovich picked up his second assist in as many games on the play, now halfway to his single-season high.
Smith ultimately led RMU with four points and captured his fifth career hat trick, not to mention his first since his Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year campaign (Mar. 25, 2017 vs. Mount St. Mary's) on a similarly shrewd play in the fourth quarter.
The two-time All-NEC honoree, from behind the Hoyas net, wrapped around to his right, dove around the crease under duress and dribbled the ball in for a goal that was upheld after brief deliberation, breaking a 9-9 tie with 12:26 to go. Unfortunately, the only offense Robert Morris could muster going forward was a man-up goal by midfielder
Brad McCulley, his second tally of the game, assisted by fellow sophomore
Jake Boudreau with 2:48 to spare.
Boudreau finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play at the right side of the net for the first goal of the third quarter to make it 7-5 RMU with 13:48 remaining. Just past the midpoint of the period, McCulley went right down the middle to put his team ahead 9-8.
At the other end, senior goalkeeper
Alex Heger, after being overwhelmed by the white-hot Penn State offense a week earlier, looked more like his optimal self. The 2019
Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American finished with 13 saves and made a dazzling point-blank stop on Robert Clark inside the first minute of the second quarter.
He and the rest of the Colonials defense limited the always dangerous Bucaro to just one goal in the first half, and they blanked the Hoyas for a stretch of 17:45 before finally conceding to Patrick Aslanian in transition 24 seconds before the break.
Senior midfielder
Tyson Gibson, named a Week 1 NEC Prime Performer, made it an 8-6 game in Bobby Mo's favor with 11:19 to play in the third. The 2019 co-captain has scored a goal in ten of his past 11 games and registered a point in 23 of his last 24 dating back to Apr. 18, 2017.
The Colonials were a solid 19-for-21 (.905) on clearing attempts, while the Hoyas nipped them, 29-28, in the overall ground ball battle. Both sides escaped two of three man-down situations.
Robert Morris hosts Bellarmine, its longest-standing non-conference rival, in its 2019 home opener next Saturday. The opening faceoff from Joe Walton Stadium is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET, and admission is free, with a free livestream also running on NEC Front Row.
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