Men's Lacrosse | 3/22/2019 3:40:00 PM
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team welcomes the Mountaineers of Mount St. Mary's University to Joe Walton Stadium Saturday for the second game of a women's/men's doubleheader.
The Colonials are scheduled to begin their first Northeast Conference home game of 2019 with a 3:00 p.m. EDT opening faceoff. The
Robert Morris women's lacrosse team begins the doubleheader with a 12:00 p.m. first draw versus non-conference Radford University.
Admission to both games is free, as are the corresponding livestreams on NEC Front Row, produced by RMU-TV.
Robert Morris (1-6, 0-1) vs. Mount St. Mary's (4-5, 1-0)
Mar. 23 (3:00 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
The RMU men are coming off a narrow 18-16 defeat at Sacred Heart in the NEC opener for both teams last Saturday. Robert Morris battled to a 6-6 halftime tie, but a pair of second-half runs were not enough to offset a late push by the Pioneers.
When they last met the Mount, the Colonials left Waldron Family Stadium Mar. 24, 2018 with a 15-5 win in Emmitsburg, Maryland, a No. 14 ranking and a five-game win streak, their high-water mark of the 2018 regular season.
On Mar. 25, 2017,
Ryan Smith, in the last matchup at Joe Walton Stadium, capped his career-best four-goal effort in overtime of an 11-10 victory. Robert Morris has prevailed in seven of its last eight contests against the Mountaineers, good for a 7-4 lead in the all-time series.
SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S
The Mountaineers, featuring Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Week Joshua Davies, have been getting it done with defense. This marks the third straight week a Mount player has earned that award, as sophomore goalie Dylan Furnback took the previous two.
Furnback faced RMU in relief of Luke Mutterer during the second half of the last meeting between these teams.
Davies combined for six caused turnovers and three ground balls in contests against No. 17 Johns Hopkins and Bryant over the week. The junior defenseman caused three turnovers while adding his first career assist Mar. 12 at JHU, and he followed it up by helping lead the Mountaineers to a victory over Bryant in their NEC opener last Saturday, registering three caused turnovers and a pair of ground balls in the team's 10-7 win.
Normally tasked with shadowing the opposing team's top scorer, Davies leads a defensive unit that has now held opponents under ten goals in three of the last five games.
On the offensive side of the field, Chris DiPretoro will be in the middle of the Mount's workflow. DiPretoro notched a hat trick against Robert Morris last time out, and the senior attackman leads the team this season with 19 goals.
MUSKET SHOTS
Hat's All, Folks
Corson Kealey was named a Week 6 NEC Prime Performer for his double hat trick at Sacred Heart last Saturday, the 15th in team history. He is the tenth different Colonial with six goals or more in a game. In addition,
Ryan Smith equaled his career high with four goals in the NEC opener for RMU. Dating back to last season, the Colonials have had at least one player record a hat trick in 16 of their last 17 games, including
Matt Schmidt's three at Mount Mar. 24, 2018.
The Indy 500
Alex Heger is the first goalkeeper in RMU history to surpass 500 career saves, as well as its first First Team Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American. On Mar. 9 Heger became the team's seventh Major League Lacrosse draftee all-time, per the Ohio Machine, in Round Seven, with the 59th overall pick. The Carmel, Indiana native has recorded 554 career saves, fourth among active D-I keepers, including a season-high 19 last time out against the Mountaineers.
Eyes On The Prize
Heger was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List for the second straight year Mar. 1. He was one of two Northeast Conference representatives on the initial list, and one of only five goalkeepers in Division I who made that cut. Heger enters Saturday with a .557 all-time save percentage in Northeast Conference play, including a .695 career clip against the Mount.
You Stay CLASSy, Maple, Ontario
Tyson Gibson is a candidate for the Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®) Award, one of the premier citizenship awards in D-I athletics. Gibson is third all-time at Robert Morris with 62 assists and now tenth all-time with 121 points. He has a point in 28 of his last 29 outings, dating back to the 2017 season. On Mar. 9 the Atlanta Blaze, with Pick No. 41 of Round Five, made him the sixth MLL draftee in team history.
How Aboot That!
Gibson was named a Week 6 NEC Prime Performer after combining for 13 points (6 G, 7 A) in two games and becoming just the tenth different RMU player with eight or more points in a single game Mar. 12. Gibson is one of 15 Canadians on the 2019 roster, giving RMU the most Canadians, ditto the most international players, of any Division I men's team this year.
Drawing A Blank
On Feb. 23 the Colonials shut out Bellarmine for the final 33:44, including a scoreless second half. This was their longest sustained stretch of scoreless ball since they went 35:07 without allowing a goal to visiting Cleveland State during a 14-5 win Apr. 14, 2018. RMU shut out the Mountaineers for the final 27:01 of its victory in Emmitsburg last March.
Toomb Raider
Jack Toomb, with seven ground balls Mar. 9, passed Kyle Buchanan '12 for No. 3 in RMU lore and now has 186 all-time. He is fifth at RMU with his career average of 3.38 GB's per game. Toomb matched his season high with three caused turnovers versus Marquette Mar. 12. He ranks sixth in program history with 56 career CT's, just four away from entering the top five.
The Tall Guy
Will Ewing made his 52nd career start at Sacred Heart. The defensive co-captain is the eighth Colonial to top 50 career starts. Last Saturday he tied current graduate assistant
Adrian Torok-Orban '18 for fifth in RMU history, with Dan Mulford '09 (53) next on his radar at No. 4.
An EMO Band
The Colonials went 4-for-4 on extra-man opportunities at Penn State Feb. 9. This marked the third time within the past calendar year and eighth in history that RMU got four man-up goals in a game, previously doing so Mar. 17 and Mar. 3, 2018. Robert Morris leads the NEC and has climbed to ninth in the NCAA with its .450 conversion rate in man-up situations.
Arnold's Market
Trey Arnold has taken 839 career faceoffs for the Colonials, the third-most among active Division I FOGOs. Arnold, who co-led all players with seven GB's at SHU, grabbed his 150th career ground ball last Saturday, making him the sixth in RMU history to reach that plateau.
Bobby Mo To Pro
Zachary Bryant (Ohio Machine, 2018);
Sean Meagher (Charlotte Hounds, 2015); Kiel Matisz (Hamilton Nationals, 2012); Trevor Moore (Chesapeake Bayhawks, 2011) and Patrick Smith (Ohio, 2011) preceded Gibson and Heger as RMU's all-time MLL draftees. On Wednesday
Jacob Ruest '15 (Colorado Mammoth, NLL), one of nine alumni playing "box lax" professionally, was taken by the Denver Outlaws in the MLL Supplemental Draft.
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