Men's Lacrosse | 4/5/2019 5:06:00 PM
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team returns home to face the Seahawks of Wagner College Saturday afternoon. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EDT at Joe Walton Stadium, and admission is free, as is live coverage on NEC Front Row.
Robert Morris (2-7, 1-2) vs. Wagner (2-8, 0-2)
Apr. 6 (1:00 p.m.) -Â LIVEÂ STREAMÂ |Â LIVE STATS
The Colonials begin the final month of their 2019 regular season with three games over a span of one week and their third Northeast Conference contest in a row. RMU is coming off a 15-9 victory at St. Joseph's last Saturday, breaking into the conference win column for the first time upon its first visit to Philadelphia since capturing the 2018 NEC Tournament championship.
Robert Morris had plenty of contributors to its 15-5 win over Wagner at Hameline Field on Staten Island, New York Apr. 21, 2018, the last meeting between these NEC foes.
Tyson Gibson and
Matt Schmidt were among the 11 unique RMU goal-scorers that day, with
Ryan Smith adding three assists.
The Colonials were also victorious Apr. 8, 2017, their last home game versus the Seahawks, with Schmidt recording a career-high eight points and Smith producing a career-high six, including five helpers, in a 17-6 triumph at Joe Walton Stadium.
SCOUTING WAGNER
Following a close, competitive first half that saw the Seahawks jump out to a 4-2 second-quarter lead, Bryant tallied seven unanswered third-quarter goals to hand the hosts a 13-4 loss at Hameline Field last Saturday. Wagner opened the scoring with an unassisted goal by reigning NEC Rookie of the Week Stephen Dwyer, and after Bryant tied the game, the Seahawks went ahead 2-1 on a blast by senior midfielder Spencer Kaufman, off a Dwyer feed.
Kaufman (2 G) and Dwyer (G, A) paced Wagner with two points apiece, while senior goalkeeper Matt Sefcik, fresh off a career-high 22-save effort in a 14-11 victory at NJIT Mar. 23, was credited with 15 saves on the day. Kaufman has 15 goals and 20 points this season, one off the team lead in both categories, while Dwyer co-leads his squad with seven assists and ranks third with 18 points. When the Colonials last faced Wagner, they held Kaufman to a single point, a fourth-quarter assist.
Sefcik, who made 17 saves in that 2018 contest, entered 2019 ranked third in team history in career stops, and he comes into Saturday second among active Division I keepers with 632 saves all-time. Sophomore defenseman Kyle Stofko is averaging 2.50 caused turnovers per game, good for fifth in the nation, in support of Sefcik.
MUSKET SHOTS
Prime Time
Three Colonials were named Week 8 NEC Prime Performers.
Ryan Smith got his nod after scoring four times to set new career highs in goals (22) and points (34),
Alex Heger shared his sixth career NEC Defensive Player of the Week honor for his season-high 17 saves at SJU and
Corson Kealey won his first-ever outright NEC Player of the Week award after sharing the title Mar. 4, equaling Smith with four goals and finishing with a game-high six points.
Climbing The Apple Tree
After recording a season-high 13 assists in their win at St. Joseph's, the Colonials are now up to fifth in the NCAA with their average of 8.78 assists per game.
Jake Boudreau led RMU with four and
Tyson Gibson added three at SJU, and both are among the NEC top ten in assists per game (1.22 and 2.00, respectively), and Smith is also in the top ten with 1.33 per contest. Gibson enters Saturday ranked third in RMU history with 67 helpers all-time.
Hat's All, Folks
A Colonial has recorded a hat trick in 18 of the past 19 games dating back to last year. Last Saturday, all three starting attackmen, Kealey, Smith and
Matt Schmidt, earned an HT at Sweeney Field. Smith has four in a row, including three in NEC play, and six this season. The double hat trick by Kealey at Sacred Heart Mar. 16 was the first by an RMU player since Schmidt broke out the chapeaus twice versus Wagner at Joe Walton Stadium in 2017.
An EMO Band
The Colonials went 3-for-3 on extra-man opportunities at St. Joseph's last Saturday, scoring three straight in a 61-second span in the second quarter to cap an 8-1 run. Schmidt leads Robert Morris with four EMO markers this year, and RMU leads the Northeast Conference with its .560 conversion rate in man-up situations, also ranking second in the NCAA.
Schmidt Show
Schmidt leads all active Colonials with 85 career goals, having moved into ninth in Robert Morris history with his hatty against the Hawks Mar. 30. The co-captain needs two to equal former teammate
Adrian Torok-Orban '18 for eighth in team lore. His 17th career man-up goal last Saturday tied Schmidt with Andrew Watt '08 for the fourth-most in RMU history.
The Tall Guy
Will Ewing made his 53rd career start at SJU Mar. 30. The defensive co-captain is the eighth Colonial to top 50 career starts. Ewing, with that nod, tied former player and assistant coach Dan Mulford '09 for fourth in RMU history.
Joseph Scenna '15 is next on his radar, with 54.
Drawing A Blank
On Feb. 23 the Colonials shut out Bellarmine for the final 33:44. This was their longest stretch of scoreless ball since going 35:07 without allowing a goal to Cleveland State during a 14-5 win Apr. 14, 2018. RMU held Wagner scoreless for the first 18:35 of their last meeting, and it allowed only one goal in the first 23:19 of its victory at St. Joseph's last Saturday.
Heggs 'N 'At
Heger was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List for the second straight year Mar. 1. He was one of two NEC representatives on the initial list, and one of only five goalkeepers in Division I who made that cut. Heger enters Saturday with a .555 all-time save percentage in NEC play, and he ranks third in the conference with his average of 11.89 stops per game. His 581 career saves on the RMU books put him fourth among active Division I goalies, although he has only had to make 12 of those for his three career wins over the Seahawks.
Canadian Bakin'
Kealey is up to third in the NEC in goals per game (2.78), with Smith in seventh place (2.44), while Gibson and Smith are tied for fifth in the NEC in points per game (3.78), and Kealey is eighth (3.44). Factoring in 20 total points by
Jake Boudreau, four of RMU's top five scorers entering Saturday are Canadians. The 2019 Colonials have 15 of those, giving them the most of any Division I men's team, ditto the most international players of any kind, this year.
Blaze Of Glory
Gibson has a point in 30 of his last 31 games dating back to the 2017 season. He is up to 126 all-time, passing former Calgary Roughneck
Jake Hayes '13 for ninth in RMU history Mar. 30. He padded his senior resume with a nomination for the Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®) Award, one of the premier citizenship awards in D-I athletics, and his selection by the Atlanta Blaze in the 2019 Major League Lacrosse Draft.
Toomb Raider
Jack Toomb, with his seven ground balls Mar. 9, passed Kyle Buchanan '12 for No. 3 in RMU lore and now has 188 all-time. He ranks sixth in caused turnovers in program history, with 59, needing one to match
Tyler Rankel '14 and enter the Colonials' top five in that category as well. Toomb collected five GB's and forced two miscues in his 2018 outing at Wagner.
Arnold's Market
Trey Arnold has taken 867 career faceoffs for the Colonials, the fifth-most among active NCAA Division I FOGOs. He ranks fourth in the NEC entering Saturday with 5.78 ground balls per game and third in Robert Morris history with his career average of 3.60 per game. Arnold needs seven more faceoff wins to become only the third Colonial to achieve 400 all-time.
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