Men's Lacrosse | 5/1/2019 9:30:00 PM
EMMITSBURG, Md. -- The
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team meets the Statesmen of Hobart College in the 2019 Northeast Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament Final at Mount St. Mary's University Saturday. The opening faceoff from Waldron Family Stadium is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EDT and will be simulcast on NEC Front Row and
ESPN3.
Robert Morris (8-7) vs. Hobart (11-4) - May 4
NEC Final (4:00 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
Tickets, which will be made available at the stadium on gameday, are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for senior citizens and fans 18 and under. All students of NEC member schools receive free admission with their institutional I.D.
Visit
NortheastConference.org for more event information.
Less than a week after roaring back from four goals down versus Hobart for the right to defend its postseason title, the Colonials erased a five-goal, second-half deficit to extend their season long enough for senior midfielder
Tyson Gibson to underscore his recent NEC Player of the Year award.
Gibson spiked a ball past Dylan Furnback, the NEC Defensive Player of the Year, on a deft wraparound try from the left side with 1:47 left in Thursday's overtime period to give the Colonials a 13-12 heart-stopper over regular-season champion Mount St. Mary's in the semifinal round. The Maple, Ontario native (St. Michael's College School) and RMU co-captain stirred echoes of his sudden-victory tally in last spring's NEC Final in order to surmount the Mount and give Robert Morris the chance to repeat history one more time.
It was all too fitting a way for this RMU team to extend its winning streak, now its longest ever, to seven games. In 2012, head coach
Andrew McMinn, named NEC Coach of the Year, led the Colonials to their first regular-season crown in his debut season, only to see it end in overtime of the NEC Semifinal, at the expense of Mount St. Mary's, led by 2019 Coach of the Year Tom Gravante.
While turning that table and also avenging a more recent setback, which saw the Mountaineers stage a fourth-quarter rally of their own at Joe Walton Stadium Mar. 23, McMinn presided over the milestone 100th all-time victory for the men's program Thursday.
He entered his eighth year at the helm with five returning All-NEC selections, the same number with which he enters this year's conference tournament. The Colonials safely punched their ticket to a fourth postseason in a row by rallying from four goals down in the final 10:25 of regulation, then capitalizing on the first possession of overtime to defeat Hobart, 16-15, on Senior Day. Four of the teams' last five meetings, and three straight, have been decided by a single score.
SCOUTING HOBART
For the fourth time in their last five NEC Tournament appearances, the Hobart Statesmen will compete for the Northeast Conference men's lacrosse championship. Playing under the bright lights at Waldron Family Stadium, Hobart controlled the majority of play in Thursday's other semifinal and built up a seven-goal lead, but had to sweat it out in the end before knocking off third-seeded Sacred Heart 14-13. Hobart advanced to the program's fourth NEC Men's Lacrosse Final.
Despite the offensive power outage at the end of the game, Hobart produced nine different goal scorers on the night. Eric Holden, who led the Statesmen with four goals and an assist, recorded his ninth hat trick of the year and fifth game of four or more goals on the season. Derrek Madonna and Jason Knox each recorded a pair of goals.
Hobart, which shared the NEC lead entering the final week of regular-season play, settled for the No. 2 seed after falling to Robert Morris in last Saturday's dramatic Senior Day contest. The Statesmen, like the Colonials, are looking for their second postseason title since joining the conference, and Knox, their freshman attackman, continues to turn heads. Knox led all players at RMU with five goals, and the All-NEC Rookie Team honoree's 33 tallies were the most by a newcomer for a single season in the program's Division I era entering the postseason.
MUSKET SHOTS
Elite Company
Tyson Gibson brought the NEC Player of the Year award to Robert Morris for the fourth time in program history. He is the third different Colonial to claim the honor after Trevor Moore won two in a row 2010-11 and future RMU Athletics Hall-of-Famer Kiel Matisz won it concurrently with his Offensive Player of the Year Award as a senior in 2012. Furthermore, Gibson joins Matisz and
Eric Rankel '16 as the only other RMU players ever to make the All-NEC First Team three times.
Terrific Trio
Gibson was named the NEC Player of the Week for Week 12, taking the honor for the first time ever after leading the Colonials with seven points, also matching his career-high five assists for the second week in a row. He also produced seven points against Hobart Apr. 29, 2017, the last time the Statesmen had visited Joe Walton Stadium for Senior Day.
Ryan Smith and
Matt Schmidt were also named NEC Prime Performers after combining for seven goals in their team's comeback last Saturday.
Smithers, Who Is That Man?
Ryan Smith returns to the All-NEC Second Team after recording career highs in goals (36), assists (19) and points (55). He caused 11 turnovers after not recording any as an underclassman, and his 32 ground balls tripled his personal best. Smith matched his career-high four goals for the fourth time this season versus Hobart, and he set a new career high with seven points at Sacred Heart Mar. 16.
Apple Watch
With 7:35 left in the first quarter Apr. 27, Gibson set up
Corson Kealey for the Colonials' third goal of the game, putting him past Kyle Buchanan '12 as the program's new career assist leader (82). Through Thursday, Gibson, the NEC assist leader, ranked 17th in Division I with his average of 2.20 apples per game, and the Colonials ranked fifth nationally with 9.00 helpers per contest. Smith, with 1.27 per game, is also in the NEC's top ten entering the tournament, tied for ninth.
Caps For Sale
A Colonial has recorded a hat trick in 24 of the past 25 games.
Matt Schmidt broke out the chapeaus for the fifth time this year with his goal 40 seconds into overtime versus Hobart, and Smith's ninth HT, which was tied for the team lead, included a third-quarter equalizer and another game-tying tally with :52 left in the fourth. On Apr. 20 at Bryant, RMU became the tenth D-I team this year to have four different players get hat tricks in a single game:
Brad McCulley, Kealey, Smith and Schmidt.
Heggs 'N 'At
Alex Heger was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List for the second straight year Mar. 1, one of two NEC players and five goalies in all of Division I who made that cut. Heger averages 12.40 saves per game, ranking 18th in the NCAA through Saturday and tops among NEC Tournament keepers, and his 660 career stops put him in the top four among active D-I collegians. Heger turned aside 14 shots in Thursday's NEC Semifinal after taking tournament MVP honors in his last playoff appearance.
Canadian Bakin'
Robert Morris has three Canadians among the NEC's top ten in points per game. Gibson ranks third with his 4.00 average, and Smith and Kealey are tied for seventh at 3.67 per outing. The 2019 Colonials roster, with 15 Canucks in all, has the most Canadians and international players in both the NEC and NCAA Division I.
An EMO Band
Robert Morris enters Saturday with a .488 conversion rate on extra-man opportunities that ranks third in Division I. The Colonials scored on man-ups at an even more staggering .667 rate against NEC teams entering the tournament. McCulley scored his team-leading seventh man-up goal Thursday, putting him inside the NCAA top ten. Schmidt is RMU's active career leader, with 18.
Hey Rookie, Welcome To The Show
Brandon Sulhoff represents the Colonials on this year's All-NEC Rookie Team. He has scored a number of acrobatic goals in a substitute role for RMU, and four of his first eight came in conference play. Sulhoff enjoyed his second career multi-goal outing at St. Joseph's Mar. 30, the game that started the Colonials' winning streak. On Thursday, he subbed in for Kealey and scored the goal that forced overtime in the game's final minute.
"'You Miss 100% Of The Shots You Don't Take' - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Robert Morris leads the NEC and has climbed to 16th in Division I with its .309 shot percentage. In addition, RMU's average of 22.87 points per game is good for ninth in the nation. Kealey, the NEC leader in goals (46) after pacing his team with four Thursday, is 13th in D-I with his 3.07 per-game average. Smith is fifth in the NEC with 2.40 goals per game, Gibson is ninth (1.80) and Schmidt is tenth (1.73). Schmidt, with his 95th career goal Thursday, passed Kiel Matisz for fifth in program history.
Ground Round
Jack Toomb is back on the All-NEC Second Team after recording 203 career ground balls, joining Mike Grosz '12 and
Chris Barney '16 as the only other Colonials in history with 200 or more, and the first defenseman to reach that mark.
Daniel Smith earned a Second Team nod, his first All-NEC honor since the 2016 All-Rookie squad, after scooping over 20 GB's in all four collegiate seasons.
Trey Arnold is tied for fourth in the conference with 5.00 ground balls per game, and Gibson set a new personal best with 44 GB's, including a career-high seven on his Senior Day.
Blaze Of Glory
Gibson has a point in 36 of his last 37 games dating back to 2017. He now has 152 all-time, leaving him fifth in RMU lore, and his 27 goals, 33 assists and 60 points are all career highs. He was nominated for the Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®) Award, one of the premier citizenship honors in D-I athletics before being drafted by the Atlanta Blaze in the 2019 Major League Lacrosse Draft with the 41st pick of the fifth round.
Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now
Robert Morris averages 9.67 caused turnovers per game, second in the NEC and among the top 20 in the country. Toomb has forced 19 miscues to lead the Colonials, having matched his career high Thursday. The 11 CT's registered by Gibson were a career high for the NEC Player of the Year.
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