PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's soccer team returns to action for the first time in 450 days this Thursday when they kick off the spring 2021 season on the road against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. 

Robert Morris (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Horizon League) vs. Oakland (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Horizon League)

Thursday, February 4, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

LIVE STATS

CATCHING UP

Robert Morris men's soccer has undergone a complete facelift since the last time they hit the pitch back on November 10th, 2019 against Saint Francis. 

A new home in the Horizon League as well as a new coaching staff led by Jason O'Keefe have the Colonials primed to usher in a new era of Robert Morris soccer. 

KNOW BOBBY MO 

• The Colonials were picked to finish 11th in 2021 Horizon League Spring Preseason Coaches Poll, earning a total of 17 points. UIC and Oakland finished tied for first overall with ten first-place votes followed by Wright State in third place. 
• Robert Morris returns each of its top-three scorers from a year ago in Riccardo Rota, Michael Petitti, and Matt Cillo. Rota paced RMU in both goals (four) and total points (eight) a year ago.
• After significant changes to the Colonials roster, the 2021 squad will feature a number of new faces including nine freshmen as well as transfers such Hernan Ibarra, Aitor Ruiz De Eguilaz, Ramsey Daymon, Tom Akinola, and Said Samara Hernandez
• Midfielder Lorenzo Guagneli is the lone senior on a roster that features nine freshmen, seven sophomores, and ten juniors.  
• Head Coach Jason O'Keefe takes over in his first year at the helm of Robert Morris in 2021. O'Keefe spent the last four years as head coach at Appalachian State, the last two of which he led the Mountaineers to back-to-back winning seasons, including a mark of 11-7-1 (.605) in 2019.
• The Colonials will play their 2021 home schedule away from campus in 2021, hosting games at the indoor facilities of the SouthPoint Fieldhouse.
• Amongst their new Horizon League foes, the Colonials have never faced Milwaukee, Fort Wayne or IUPUI.  RMU is 6-11 all-time against Cleveland State, 0-1 against Oakland, 0-0-1 against UIC, 0-1-1 against Detroit Mercy, 3-3 against Wright State, 0-1 against Northern Kentucky, and 0-1 against Green Bay.  Robert Morris squared off against both Oakland and CSU last season, however they have not faced UIC in over 20 years, last meeting the Flames during the 1996 campaign.

SCOUTING OAKLAND 

Oakland was picked to finish in a first-place tie along with UIC atop the 2021 Horizon League Men's Soccer Preseason Poll. 

Along with Cleveland State, the Grizzlies are one of two Horizon League schools RMU faced last season when they were still members of the Northeast Conference, dropping a 5-1 home decision in their season opener on August 30, 2019. 

Oakland finished 7-9-3 overall a season ago including a 4-2-2 mark in Horizon League competition. The Golden Grizzlies earned the No. 2 seed in 2019 in HL and welcome back 2019 All-Horizon League selections Dylan Borczak and Noah Jensen.

QUOTABLES 

"We are excited to kick off our Horizon League debut against a top team like Oakland. It will be a great opportunity to see what the top of the league looks like, as they finished second last year so we know what we need to do to be competitive in this league moving forward." - Head Coach Jason O'Keefe 

NEXT UP

RMU returns to Pittsburgh for its home opener when they host Cleveland State next Wednesday, February 10 at SouthePointe.