Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team continues a season-opening three-game road swing on Saturday, February 13 when it returns to the Tar Heel State to take on High Point. The Colonials are coming off a hard-fought 16-12 defeat to No. 1 Duke in their season opener this past Sunday, while this will be the first regular-season game for the Panthers following a January 30 scrimmage at North Carolina. Saturday's clash will mark the seventh consecutive season that RMU and HPU have played.
GAME #2
Robert Morris Colonials (0-1) @ High Point Panthers (0-0)
February 13, 2021 // 12:00 p.m. // High Point, N.C. – Vert Stadium (2,500)
Live Video: ESPN+ // Live Stats: HighPointPanthers.com
History w/ High Point
Overall: 3-3 | Home: 2-1 | Away: 1-2 | Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: W1
Last Game: February 29, 2020 – Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris 15, High Point 11
Robert Morris and High Point are deadlocked in the all-time series, 3-3. The Colonials pulled even with the Panthers last year on Leap Day, earning a 15-11 win in their only home game of the abbreviated 2020 campaign. The hosts received a career-high six points from
Jake Boudreau (3g, 3a), while
Austin Popovich and
Brandon Sulhoff both posted four-goal games.
Grant Koopman picked up the win in his first career start, making 11 saves against a good HPU offense.
The previous year at Vert Stadium, No. 11 HPU escaped with a nail-biting 16-15 win over RMU in double overtime.
Matt Schmidt's tally off a Popovich feed knotted the game at 15-15 with 1:37 remaining in regulation, and it remained that way until Hunter Vines ripped the net for the Panthers with 1:56 on the clock of the second extra frame.
Corson Kealey led all players with five goals for the visitors, while
Tyson Gibson collected a hat trick and two assists in the defeat.
Scouting the Panthers
Led by ninth-year head coach Jon Torpey, High Point is coming off a 2-6 season in 2020 and was picked to finish second in the Southern Conference (SoCon) Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Panthers received a first-place vote from the seven-team field, and placed a pair of players – Asher Nolting and Colin Clothier – on the Preseason All-SoCon Team.
Nolting, a senior attack, paced HPU in scoring last year, tallying 11 goals and 22 assists in eight contests. He was been named SoCon Player of the Year in both 2018 and 2019, and enters his fourth season with 85 goals, 106 assists, and 191 points in 38 career games.
Clother, a senior short-stick defensive midfielder, netted three goals, seven groundballs, and two caused turnovers in seven games last year. He has 35 groundballs, 18 caused turnovers, and 13 points (7g, 6a) in 36 career games, and is – along with Nolting – one of the 17 seniors or graduate students on the Panthers' 2021 roster.
Last Time Out
RMU carried a 5-2 lead into the second quarter in its season opener at No. 1 Duke this past Sunday, but the Blue Devils scored eight unanswered goals between the first and third frames to eventually defeat the Colonials, 16-12. After falling behind, the Colonials came back to pull within two twice at 9-7 and 10-8, but Duke responded with a 6-2 burst over the final 10 minutes to secure the win.
The Colonials were led offensively by co-captains by
Corson Kealey and
Ryan Smith. Kealey netted a game-high five points (4g, 1a), while Smith posted the 17th hat trick of his career and added a helper. RMU had five different goal scorers (
Jake Boudreau,
Elliot Holden,
Austin Popovich) and seven different players record an assist, while
Ben Savick tied his RMU high with 15 saves – eight coming in the first half – in his second consecutive opening day start.
Milestone Watch
RMU co-captains
Corson Kealey and
Ryan Smith are both on the cusp of major milestones, and could eclipse them this Saturday at High Point.
Kealey, a senior attack from Ottawa, Ontario, is now four points shy of eclipsing 100 for his career. He has collected 73 goals and 23 assists over 39 career games, highlighted by a 52-goal, 10-assist sophomore campaign in 2019. Kealey ranks fourth all-time at RMU in goals per game (1.87) and eighth in points per game (2.46), and is 14 goals shy of breaking into the top 10 in career tallies.
Smith, a graduate attack from Burlington, Ontario, reached 150 career points over the weekend and is a hat trick shy of hitting the century mark for goals. He has 97 to his name currently, in addition to 53 assists in 57 career games. Smith would move into fifth all-time at RMU in goals with a hat trick, and currently shares the fifth position in assists with
James Rahe and owns sole possession of sixth in points.
On The Radar
The Colonials are on the cusp of breaking into the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) / Dynamic Top 20, as they currently sit second among teams receiving votes with 17 points. The 17 points are an increase from the two RMU received last week in the Preseason Poll.
If the Colonials can break into the rankings this season, it would be the first time since the 2018 campaign that they garnered a national ranking. RMU made its presence known in nine consecutive ranking releases that year, reaching as high as No. 13 in the USILA Coaches' Poll and finishing at No. 15 in the Maverik Media/Inside Lacrosse Poll. The Colonials also broke into the Top 20 in both the 2010 and 2012 seasons.
Play the Best, Be the Best
RMU's 2021 schedule will feature numerous clashes with high-profile programs, as three of 10 opponents landed on the Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Top 20 Poll. The Colonials have played 38 games against nationally-ranked foes in their history, winning six of those clashes over the last 10 seasons.
RMU has brought its best against Top 20 teams as of late, winning four of the last 10 meetings. The Colonials rattled off three consecutive wins in the 2018 campaign at No. 16 Penn State (12-9), No. 10 Marquette (12-2), and No. 20 Saint Joseph's (9-8, OT), and netted a 13-12 triumph at No. 17 Lehigh on April 10, 2019. Three of those five defeats have come by three goals or less, with one of those instances coming at No. 1 Maryland (11-14) in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Never Grow Up
RMU received a boost to its 2021 roster with the return of graduate student
Jimmy Perkins, who was previously on the team's roster from 2015 to 2018. Perkins spent the last two seasons at the University of Utah, using the NCAA waiver extending a year of eligibility to spring sport student-athletes to return to Moon Township to pursue a second Master's degree.
A product of Quaker Valley High School, Perkins is one of two seventh-year players to suit up in the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse season, joining Adam Charalambides of Rutgers. He missed his first two seasons at RMU due to injury, then accumulated 79 points (38g, 41a) and 45 groundballs in 34 games over the 2017 and 2018 campaigns. In two years at Utah, Perkins tallied 52 points (42g, 10a) over 18 contests, netting a team-high 18 goals in the abbreviated 2020 season.
Perkins ranks third all-time at RMU in assists per game (1.20) and owns the single-game record for helpers with six on Feb. 9, 2018. He was an All-Northeast Conference (NEC) Second Team pick in 2018, recording 30 assists and 61 points that season - numbers that rank second and fifth, respectively, in the program's season rankings. Between his time with the Colonials and Utes, Perkins has registered 80 goals, 52 assists, 132 points, and 74 groundballs in 53 career games.
One More Time
RMU will see a more complete send-off to the storied collegiate career of
Ryan Smith in 2021, as he was one of three seniors (
Austin Popovich,
James Scane) to take advantage of an NCAA waiver granting an additional year of eligibility to 2020 spring student-athletes. Smith, a graduate attack from Burlington, Ontario, enters his fifth season as one of the program's top players with three All-NEC nods, the 2017 NEC Rookie of the Year award, and 2020 USILA Scholar All-America accolades to his name.
Smith was selected with the third overall pick in the 2020 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Entry Draft by the Rochester Knighthawks, and will likely pursue a pro career following the season. He established the single-game school record for points (10) and tied it in goals (8) on Feb. 15, 2020 at Canisius to open last season. Smith currently sits fifth all-time at RMU in assists (53) and points per game (2.63), and sixth in goals (97) and points (150).
Pop-A-Shot
The cancellation of the 2020 season after six games brought to a halt the breakout campaign of
Austin Popovich. Popovich, a midfielder from Columbus, Ohio, had recorded 30 points (13g, 17a) in 43 games over his first three seasons before exploding for 27 points on 18 goals and nine assists in 2020. He currently has two goals and an assist thus far in 2021.
Popovich ranked inside the top 30 nationally in points per game (4.50, 29th) and goals per game (3.00, 30th) - numbers that also ranked second and first, respectively, on the Colonials. The fifth-year midfielder also excels in the classroom, being named to the NEC Academic Honor Roll four years running as well as earning USILA Scholar All-America plaudits.
Road Warriors
There's no truth to the rumor that RMU will be changing its acronym to RWU, but Road Warrior University would be an accurate way to describe the Colonials' program in recent seasons. As an independent in 2021, RMU is slated to play seven true road contests and eight of its 10 games away from Joe Walton Stadium.
This isn't a new concept to the Colonials. In last year's abbreviated campaign, RMU played five of its six contests away from Moon Township with four of them being true road games. In their 2018 and 2019 NCAA Tournament seasons, the Colonials played a combined 21 road games - plus two neutral-site bouts - compared to just 12 home contests.
Fly High Jack
In January, RMU announced that it will retire the jersey number 43 in honor of the late
Jack Toomb. The Colonials also will wear helmet straps with 'Toomb 43' on them to honor their former teammate.
Toomb passed away in March 2020 at the age of 23. He played at RMU from 2016 to 2019, and was a cornerstone of the program's 2018 and 2019 NEC Tournament championship sides as a long-stick midfielder and defender. A three-time All-NEC Second Team selection, Toomb ranks third in program history in games played (65), fourth in groundballs (210), and fifth in groundballs per game (3.23) and caused turnovers (64).
Last July,
Tyson Gibson wore Toomb's name and number during the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) season with the Philadelphia Barrage. RMU plans on holding a formal jersey retirement ceremony sometime in 2021.
From Bobby Mo to Pro
RMU has made its name known in the professional ranks of indoor and outdoor lacrosse, and accomplished an impressive feat last year. In the 2020 season, the Colonials had the highest representation of any college or university in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) with 11 former players suiting up for 10 different teams.
After the selections of
Ryan Smith and
Brad McCulley in the 2020 NLL Entry Draft, RMU became the only school to boast multiple first-round picks in the 2019 and 2020 drafts. The Colonials have 12 players active in the NLL as of the 2021 season with Kevin Brownell (Buffalo Bandits), Kyle Buchanan (Buffalo Bandits),
Tyler Digby (Colorado Mammoth),
Tyson Gibson (New York Riptide), JonPatrik Kealey (Buffalo Bandits),
Luc Magnan (Halifax Thunderbirds), Kiel Matisz (Philadelphia Wings),
Brad McCulley (Buffalo Bandits),
James Rahe (Vancouver Warriors),
Justin Robinson (Saskatchewan Rush),
Jacob Ruest (New England Black Wolves), and
Mitch Wilde (Calgary Roughnecks).
Next Up
RMU concludes its three-game season-opening road swing on Saturday, Feb. 20 when it travels across the Keystone State for a noon opening faceoff with Bucknell. This will be the third all-time meeting with the Bison, but the first in nine seasons as the teams previously clashed in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
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