EMMITSBURG, Md. -- For a group that has thrived while living in the moment, the
Robert Morris men's lacrosse team continues to demonstrate an ironic thirst for reliving its past.
Head coach
Andrew McMinn has referred to his resilient squad as "dead soldiers fighting," a mantra newly embraced from top to bottom. Once again, just when it appeared his army had met a more definitive demise, a collective, zombified hand reached up from beneath the turf at Waldron Family Stadium and stole the Northeast Conference Semifinal from its host.
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. 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 (8-7) the chance to repeat history one more time.
"I guess I just don't get nervous," Gibson laughed. "I don't really think about it, I just like to go out there and play. It could have been anyone on our team. I just happened to be in the right spot, again, but this was a team win. We all worked hard, from top to bottom, and that's why we came out on top."
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, 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 (9-7) 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.
"I think even I had a little doubt creep in during the fourth quarter there," McMinn quipped, "but, again, we don't get to go out and play. All the credit goes to these guys, in this locker room. I think we've had enough instances that have proven their character is to fight, no matter what our situation is. I couldn't be more proud of them."
Sophomore attackman
Corson Kealey, officially the NEC's top goal-scorer for the 2019 campaign, paced the Colonials offense with four of those, and five points. The Ottawa, Ontario native (Everest Academy) dodged multiple defenders and ripped his 46th of the year past Furnback from the top of the circle with 8:45 left in regulation, bringing his team within one.
Mount St. Mary's had held a one-goal lead over St. Joseph's for the last seven minutes of its Senior Day to earn hosting rights, and it looked every bit as determined to slam the door again. It was
Brandon Sulhoff, Kealey's successor on this year's All-NEC Rookie Team, who finally slipped through the crack.
When pressed into action after an injury sidelined Kealey during the final three minutes, Sulhoff became the unlikely hero Robert Morris desperately needed. Playing in his native Maryland (Owings, Md.//Northern) for the first time as a collegian, the newcomer bravely got himself in front of two Mountaineers and faked out Furnback with a bouncing shot at the right edge of the crease that evened the score with just under 40 seconds remaining.
"Everyone's big. From the bench, we need that energy to get going...and that's big for a freshman. Sully came in and was big," said Gibson. "To win a championship, you need that from every single player. It doesn't just fall on one guy."
He wasn't the only one outside the usual cast of characters to step up, either. Senior midfielder
Eddie Smith enjoyed his first multi-goal game since his own All-NEC Rookie year in 2016, scoring a brilliant, over-the-shoulder, behind-the-back goal with 1:47 left in the third quarter to spark the comeback.
Fellow senior
Daniel Smith, another 2016 All-NEC Rookie selection and 2019 Second Team All-NEC honoree, picked up a rare assist on the play. The unrelated Smith was a menace from his defensive midfield spot, causing two turnovers and collecting four ground balls to surpass his career high (30).
Aside from the Claremont Secondary alumni, sophomore FOGO
Michael Autry was a workhorse at the X, winning seven of ten faceoffs in the third. The Frederick native punctuated his homecoming when Mount took a 7-6 lead early in the period, answering promptly with his first goal in a Colonial uniform with 12:57 remaining.
"Obviously, we can't play everybody in every game, but we're so confident in the depth on this roster," McMinn said. "For various reasons, we've had guys come out of the lineup, and whoever's stepped in for them has been willing to accept the challenge.
"We had Taggart (Clark) coming in during the Hobart game, and Sully coming in to this game...it just shows those guys are putting in the work to be ready for every situation."
When Robert Morris sought answers for the Mountaineers defense at the start of the contest, it was
Eddie Smith who found one. Senior goalkeeper
Alex Heger, making seven of his 14 saves in the first quarter alone, kept RMU in it until Smith got a lane right down the middle and got a shot past Furnback with 4:27 to go.
Furnback, for his part, made nearly half of his game total in saves in the third. Thanks in large part to the sophomore, Robert Morris was unable to use its man-up unit, which came in with the nation's second-highest success rate (.528), to claw its way back into the game. Gibson, however, won the scramble for a loose ball on his doorstep and scored on the out-of-position keeper three seconds before the horn to keep the Colonials within striking distance.
At last, redshirt sophomore
Brad McCulley, set up by Gibson, converted a sidearm shot with which even Furnback couldn't keep up to make it a two-goal affair. His team-best seventh extra-man goal came with 13:41 left in the fourth and Joe Bethke in the box for cross-checking.
"We just stuck to our values," said Gibson. "We were working hard, and being down in the fourth, being 'dead soldiers fighting'--that's been our motto all year. It's nothing new for us. We were 1-7, and look at us now. We're going to keep that motto going, and, hopefully, it'll bleed into the final."
"They are as stout of a settled defense as we've probably seen all year," McMinn added. "All the credit in the world to Mount St. Mary's for having their schematics on the same page at that end of the field. In the first half, every single goal we had was in transition, so we knew we had to execute there, and then, did our best to try and squeak in those late ones in the fourth quarter, in our settled attack."
Meanwhile, RMU's defense stayed on its toes to keep the dead soldiers on life support. First, the Colonials controlled 19 of 31 ground balls in the second half while chipping away on the scoreboard. Then, after conceding possession with a foul on the opening faceoff of overtime, Heger calmly stopped a top-shelf attempt by Luke Frankeny from distance, and his middies drew a foul on Frankeny while fighting for another GB, setting the stage for the decisive 27th goal of Gibson's MVP season.
"It means a lot. Obviously, we've taken a little different path than last year, but it means so much to me, the rest of the seniors, and every other guy," he said of qualifying for the third NEC Tournament Final in team history and second in a row. "We're going to give it all we've got on Saturday, and hope for the best."
The championship game sees Robert Morris in a rematch of that dramatic Senior Day tilt with Hobart that got the Colonials there in the first place. The opening faceoff from Waldron Family Stadium is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EDT Saturday and will be simulcast on NEC Front Row and ESPN3.
"I'm just so happy for these seniors. I know it's deserving for them to play as long as they can until their careers are said and done with," said McMinn. "It's going to be a sad moment when it's all over for those guys, because they've put so much into their careers.
"That's why our goal is just to keep this thing going as long as we possibly can for them."
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