PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's soccer team makes its Horizon League postseason debut Sunday when they travel to Milwaukee to take on the Panthers in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 Horizon League tournament.
#6 Robert Morris (5-10-1, 4-5-1 Horizon League) vs. #3 Milwaukee (8-7-1, 6-3-1 Horizon League)
Sunday, November 7 at 2:00 PM EST in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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LAST TIME OUT
The Colonials clinched their first postseason berth since 2017 earlier this week with a 1-0 win at IUPUI in their regular season finale.
Bryan Akongo delivered his team-leading fifth goal of the year in the victory, while Grant Glorioso earned Defensive Player of the Week accolades for his five stops en route to his second clean sheet of the year.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
RMU is in its first ever Horizon League tournament and its first postseason action overall since qualifying for the 2017 NEC Tournament.
RMU enters the fray as the sixth seed and faces third-ranked Milwaukee, while number five Detroit Mercy heads to Chicago for a showdown against UIC.
Top ranked Oakland and second place Cleveland State each earned first-round byes and await the winners of the quarterfinal round in the semis.
TEAM LEADERS
Following his second game-winner of the year against IUPUI Bryan Akongo ends the regular season leading RMU in both goals and assists with five each.
Charlie Lawrence and Colton Spence became the seventh and eighth Colonials to score their first career collegiate goals against Green Bay earlier this year, joining Kelvin Ramirez, Preston Rushmore, Tom Akinola, Bryan Akongo, Gal Ben Dayan and Owen Jowett who also found the back of the net for the first time in 2021.
RMU has scored 17 goals from nine different scorers this year, and just two Colonials have started all 16 games so far for RMU: Akongo and Ramirez.
Grant Glorioso has made seven consecutive starts in goal for RMU and currently owns a 4-3-1 overall record with two clean sheets.
HORIZON LEAGUE AWARDS
Noe Bijou was named to the 2021 Horizon League All-Freshman team for his efforts this season for the Colonials.
The freshman defender played the fifth-most minutes of anyone on the team and the third most amongst freshmen, including eight of ten Horizon League matchups.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Milwaukee ended the regular season as the number three seed with 19 points and a 6-3-1 conference record and thus earns home-field advantage in their second showdown of the year against RMU.
The Panthers were victorious earlier this year in their previous matchup against RMU, taking down the Colonials 2-1 at the NAC back on September 18 courtesy of two goals from Paolo Gratton.
Gratton and his teammates Jake Kelderman and Logan Farrington were each named as Horizon League First-Team Honorees Friday, while four members of the Panthers freshman class were named to the All-Rookie team.
