Men's Lacrosse | 5/10/2019 5:04:00 PM
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team will play in the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament for the second year in a row when it meets the No. 4/3 Cavaliers of the University of Virginia for a First Round game Saturday night. The opening faceoff from Klöckner Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EDT and can be seen live on ESPNU, with a livestream also available, with your cable subscription, via ESPN3 or the WatchESPN app.
(RV)/(RV) Robert Morris (9-7) at #4/3 Virginia (13-3) - May 11
NCAA 1st Round (7:30 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
On gameday, reserved tickets, at $10.00 apiece, and general admission tickets, at $8.00 each, will be available at the stadium window. Tickets for Robert Morris University students are $5.00 online and/or at the booth on gameday.
Click here for more ticket information or call the Klöckner Stadium ticket office at 800-542-8821 with any questions.
Due to the concurrent University of Virginia baseball game and Atlantic Coast Conference Track & Field Championships Saturday, fans are advised to arrive on campus early in order to ensure safe parking.
Additionally, fans are advised that the university's clear bag policy for Klöckner Stadium will be in effect, as explained below.
ABOUT THE COLONIALS
Coming off a program-best 13-5 finish in 2018, Robert Morris took a much more circuitous route to its second consecutive Northeast Conference Tournament championship. The Colonials rattled off eight straight wins, setting another team record, to defend their title and earn their second automatic NCAA Tournament berth in history, becoming the first No. 4 seed to win the NEC Tournament.
Robert Morris avenged its most recent loss last Thursday in the NEC Semifinal at Mount St. Mary's. Once again, the Colonials scored five in a row and tied it up in the final minute of the fourth quarter to force another sudden-victory period, in which they completed their comeback on the tournament host and regular-season champ Mountaineers. RMU also got a measure of revenge for the 2012 semifinal that saw the Mount end its season in OT after taking the regular-season crown.
In last Saturday's championship battle, Drew McMinn's "dead soliders fighting" followed their familiar script. Again, despite scuffling offensively early on against the Statesmen, Robert Morris went on a 5-0 run over the final two quarters to take the lead for good, then held off Hobart on its final possession for its second NEC Men's Lacrosse Tournament title in school history.
Robert Morris, the No. 14 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament, has won three straight games despite trailing after three quarters. In seven previous seasons under McMinn, the Colonials had only pulled that off six other times. Three of their last four wins, for that matter, have come despite falling behind by at least four goals at one point.
On Apr. 11, 2017, the last time RMU played at UVA, 13 current Colonials dressed for the visitors in a 13-7 win by the No. 18 Cavaliers. Graduate assistant
Adrian Torok-Orban '18 also took part in that nighttime contest. The Colonials, making their third trip all-time to Klöckner Stadium, seek their second victory in an NCAA Tournament game.
Robert Morris earned its first ever one of those with a 12-6 triumph at Canisius in the NCAA Opening Round May 9, 2018. The Colonials earned the right to travel to No. 1 Maryland for the First Round, where the defending national champion Terrapins survived their upset bid with a 14-11 decision May 13, 2018.
The potential for a rematch next weekend exists. If RMU wins Saturday, it will move on to the NCAA Quarterfinal round May 18, at Hofstra University's James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York, where it will face either the 11th-seeded Terps or No. 6 seed Towson.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA
On Apr. 13 the Cavaliers clinched the outright Atlantic Coast Conference title, the 25th regular-season crown (shared/outright) all-time. UVA edged North Carolina, 14-13, in the ACC Semifinal Apr. 27 before downing Notre Dame, 10-4, at Klöckner Stadium last Saturday to capture the seventh ACC Tournament trophy in school history.
Defensive midfielder Ryan Conrad was named the tournament MVP and later selected to the USILA Division I Team of the Week. The senior short-stickman had two goals, a caused turnover and three ground balls against the Fighting Irish in the ACC final. As a sophomore, Conrad came off the bench to record five GB's and two assists in the last meeting between Virginia and Robert Morris.
UVA is No. 1 in the nation in ground balls per game (41.94) and also tops in clearing defense. The Cavaliers are limiting opponents to a .699 clearing percentage, which computes to 6.1 failed clears per contest. Junior attackman Michael Kraus, a two-time Tewaaraton Award nominee, leads the Cavaliers offense with an ACC-best average of 4.36 points per game.
MUSKET SHOTS
Elite Company
Gibson brought the NEC Player of the Year award to Robert Morris for the fourth time in school 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.
Avengers Assemble!
Alex Heger, named NEC Tournament MVP for the second straight year, led the quartet of Colonials picked for the 2019 All-NEC Tournament Team. Heger finished the week with a .542 save percentage and five ground balls. Joining him were
Tyson Gibson,
Corson Kealey and
Michael Autry. Gibson's five points (2 G, 3 A) included his second straight OT goal in an NEC Tournament game, with 1:47 left in extra time against the Mount, and the game-winning assist versus Hobart. Kealey's team-best eight points (6 G, 2 A) included the NEC Final-winning goal with 1:48 to play. Autry, playing near his native Frederick, went a total 17-for-36 (.472) from the X with 11 GB's and his first RMU goal in the semifinals.
Smithers, Who Is That Man?
Ryan Smith returned to the All-NEC Second Team and recorded career highs in goals (39), assists (20) and points (59) in 2019. He has caused 12 turnovers after not recording any as an underclassman, and his 36 ground balls more than triple his personal best. Smith led the Colonials with three goals and four points in the NEC Final, scoring twice in the first half after being held scoreless by the Mountaineers.
Apple Watch
On Apr. 27 Gibson, now up to 84 career assists, surpassed Kyle Buchanan '12 (San Diego Seals, NLL) as the program's new all-time leader. Gibson, the NEC assist leader (35), ranks 17th in Division I with his average of 2.19 helpers per game, and the Colonials ranked fifth nationally with 8.81 per contest. Smith also finished inside the NEC's top ten, averaging 1.25 per game entering the NCAA Tournament.
May Your Hats Fly As High As Your Dreams
A Colonial has recorded a hat trick in 25 of the past 26 games. Kealey notched his team-leading tenth HT in the first half of the NEC Semifinal, and Smith, not to be outdone, got his tenth in the second half last Saturday. 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: Kealey, Smith,
Brad McCulley and
Matt Schmidt. Schmidt also broke out the chapeaus the last time he faced Virginia.
Exit 14: Hegerstown
Alex Heger, like UVA's Conrad, made the USILA Team of the Week, and he was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List for the second straight year Mar. 1, one of two NEC players and five goalies in Division I who made that cut. He averages 12.38 saves per game, tied for 17th in the NCAA, and his 672 career stops put him top-four among active D-I collegians. Heger, who missed the NCAA Tournament due to injury last year, made 19 saves in his last visit to UVA, his most ever against a non-NEC opponent.
You're Un-Be-Leaf-Able
Robert Morris had three Canadians among the NEC's top ten in points per game--all Ontarians. Gibson was third with his 3.88 average, Smith came in sixth at 3.69 and Kealey seventh at 3.62. The 2019 RMU roster, with 15 Canucks in all, has the most Canadians and international players in NCAA Division I.
An EMO Band
Robert Morris enters Saturday with a .444 conversion rate on extra-man opportunities that ranks eighth in Division I and fifth among NCAA Tournament participants. In the NEC Semifinal, McCulley scored his team-leading seventh man-up goal, putting him inside the NCAA top ten. Schmidt, with 18 man-up markers all-time, is tied for the third-most in RMU history.
Sully-ing Our Reputation
Brandon Sulhoff represented the Colonials on this year's All-NEC Rookie Team. He has scored a number of highlight-reel goals in a substitute role for RMU, and four of his first eight came in non-conference play. Sulhoff enjoyed his second career multi-goal outing at St. Joseph's Mar. 30, the game that started the Colonials' winning streak. In the NEC Semifinal, he subbed in for an injured Kealey and scored the goal that forced overtime in the game's final 40 seconds.
"'You Miss 100% Of The Shots You Don't Take' - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Robert Morris led the NEC and is 19th in Division I with its .306 shot percentage. In addition, RMU's average of 22.50 points per game is tied for eighth in the nation. Kealey, the NEC leader in goals (48), is tied for 11th in D-I with his 3.00 per-game average. Smith was fifth in the NEC with 2.44 goals per game, Schmidt was ninth (1.75) and Gibson tied for tenth (1.69). Schmidt, now up to 97 career goals, passed Kiel Matisz for fifth in program history in the first quarter of the NEC Semifinal.
Ground Round
Jack Toomb made his third All-NEC Second Team while recording 206 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, and his career-high 31st GB secured the NEC Tournament title for RMU.
Trey Arnold was fifth in the conference with 4.88 ground balls per game, and
Tyson Gibson has set a new personal best with 47 GB's entering Saturday, including four in the NEC Tournament.
Blaze Of Glory
Gibson has a point in 37 of his last 38 games dating back to 2017. He now has 154 all-time, leaving him fifth in RMU lore, and his 27 goals, 35 assists and 62 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 9.13 caused turnovers per game, second-most among NCAA Tournament teams. Toomb tied his career-high 19th forced miscue in the NEC Semifinal. The 12 CT's by Gibson in 2019 were a career high.
Will Ewing had a pair at UVA in their 2017 matchup, and the Colonials recorded 11 total.
Follow the Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Snapchat
