Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team returns home for its first game at Joe Walton Stadium in 2021, as it hosts Bellarmine on Tuesday, March 2. This is the latest home opener for the Colonials since the 2012 season, when they didn't begin their home slate until March 3 against Colgate. One of two home games currently on the docket for RMU, this game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, February 23 before it was postponed and rescheduled after Bellarmine paused team activities for two weeks.
GAME #5
Bellarmine Knights (1-3) at Robert Morris Colonials (1-3)
March 2, 2021 // 1:00 p.m. // Moon Township, Pa. – Joe Walton Stadium (3,000)
Live Video: RMU Athletics on YouTube // Live Stats: RMUColonials.com
On-Air Talent: Gero von Dehn (play-by-play)
History w/ Bellarmine
Overall: 6-8 | Home: 4-3 | Away: 2-5 | Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: W3
Last Game: Feb. 23, 2019 – Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris 15, Bellarmine 7
Robert Morris has played Bellarmine in all but two seasons (2007, 2020) in its history of the program, with the Knights owning an 8-6 edge in the all-time series. RMU has won three consecutive meetings after dropping four straight from 2013-16.
Two years ago in the Colonials' home opener, they held Bellarmine without a goal in the second half en route to a 15-7 victory. RMU trailed at halftime, 7-6, following a five-goal barrage by the Knights to end the second quarter, but closed the game on a 9-0 run over the final 33:44.
Matt Schmidt led the way offensively with seven points (5g, 2a), while
Ryan Smith (3g, 2a),
Jake Boudreau (2g), and
Brandon Sulhoff (2g) all recorded multi-goal games.
Michael Autry went 13-of-23 at the X, and a quartet of Colonials in Smith,
Tyson Gibson,
Owen Down, and
Evan Hellmich forced three turnovers each.
Three years ago in Louisville,
Jimmy Perkins set a new program single-game record for assists with six as RMU cruised to a 15-7 win over the Knights. Perkins (2g, 6a) finished with eight points on the afternoon, as he was one of four players –
Matt Schmidt (2g, 2a),
Corson Kealey (3g), and
Marshall Gibson (2g) – with multiple goals.
Tyson Gibson added three points on a goal and two helpers for the visitors. Defensively,
Jack Toomb recorded a career-high five caused turnovers and
Alex Heger made nine saves.
Scouting the Knights
Second-year head coach Andrew Whitley has Bellarmine at 1-3 through the early portion of 2021, opening the year with a 9-7 win at Mercer before losses to Utah (7-12), Jacksonville (8-19), and Delaware (11-14). The Knights went 2-6 over the abbreviated 2020 campaign, winning games against Hampton (21-5) and St. Bonaventure (13-5). Bellarmine was selected to finish sixth in the Preseason Southern Conference Coaches' Poll, receiving 13 points from the seven-team field.
Senior attack Landon Trout and freshman attack Kyle Playsted share the team lead in points with eight apiece. Playsted has scored a team-high six goals – three coming in the Knights' most recent contest at Delaware – while Trout has registered multiple points in three consecutive contests. Senior defenseman Jon Robbins has caused a team-best 12 turnovers, graduate student Eric Rubak paces his teammates in groundballs with 19, and fourth-year faceoff specialist J.T. Simonton is 15-of-63 (.238) at the X thus far. Bellarmine has rotated three different goalkeepers – graduate student Ian Reilly and sophomores JC Higginbottam and Jack Bozik – with Reilly owning the top mark in goals against average (9.17), save percentage (.478), and win-loss record (1-1).
Last Time Out
RMU completed a four-game road swing with a 19-7 loss to No. 8 Notre Dame last Saturday. The Fighting Irish used runs of 6-0 and 5-0 to carry a 12-2 lead into halftime, and outscored the Colonials in the second half, 7-5, to secure a victory in their season opener.
Ryan Smith recorded three points (1g, 2a) to lead RMU offensively, while
Jimmy Perkins posted a two-goal outing.
Corson Kealey,
Austin Popovich,
Ben Starkey, and
Brandon Sulhoff also provided goals for the Colonials, while
James Leary scooped up a team-high seven groundballs defensively.
Owen Down and
Josh Schreibeis caused three turnovers each for the visitors, and
Liam Rosenthal came off the bench to make 10 saves in 33:39 of action.
Scoop Township
Fresh off a season-high seven groundballs at Notre Dame last Saturday, sophomore long-stick midfielder
James Leary has emerged as one of the program's best groundball retrievers in his young career. Now qualifying in the career record books with his 10th appearance, Leary ranks third all-time at RMU in groundballs per game (3.90), only trailing faceoff specialists Mike Grosz (5.04; 2009-12) and
Chris Barney (4.40; 2012-16). The New Fairfield, Conn. native has 39 groundballs total, with his performance against the Fighting Irish giving him 21 on the season – three more than what he accumulated during last year's six-game campaign.
Climb The Board
Graduate attack
Ryan Smith is off to a great start to begin his final season, leading the team in goals (13), assists (5), and points (18). Smith, who was selected third overall by the Rochester Knighthawks in the 2020 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Entry Draft last September, has moved into a tie with Corbyn Tao-Brambleby (2008-11) for fourth all-time at RMU in career points (164), and also ranks fourth in career goals (107), fifth in career assists (57), and eighth in career starts (50).
If Smith continues at his season pace of 3.25 goals and 4.50 points per game, he would threaten the program records in those categories, which are currently held by Trevor Moore (2008-11), who netted 134 goals and 195 points over 61 contests. The Burlington, Ontario native currently owns the single-game standards in goals (8) and points (10) - setting both on Feb. 15, 2020 at Canisius - and has been named to three All-Northeast Conference (NEC) teams, the NEC Rookie of the Year in 2017, and an USILA Scholar All-American in 2020.
Keep It 100
Senior attack
Corson Kealey became the 16th different Colonial to record 100 points on Feb. 21 at Colgate, registering four points (3g, 1a) in the 17-14 win. Kealey is now sitting at 103 points, which puts him 25 points shy of breaking into the top 10 in that category at RMU. The Ottawa, Ontario native also is nine goals away from top-10 status there, and also currently slots fourth in goals per game (1.86) and eighth in points per game (2.45).
Graduate student
Jimmy Perkins - one of two seventh-year players in NCAA Division I lacrosse - could be the next to hit the 100 point milestone, needing nine more points to achieve the accomplishment in a RMU uniform. Perkins has recorded 91 points with the Colonials on 46 goals and 45 assists, and owns 143 career points (88g, 55a) when adding in his 18 appearances at Utah between 2019-20.
A New Home (in 2022)
On Friday, February 5, it was announced that RMU would join the newly-formed ASUN Conference for men's lacrosse, starting in the 2022 season. The ASUN first built a men's lacrosse conference in the fall of 2012, and began play in 2014 with Richmond earning the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid. The Colonials will join a group of six that includes Air Force, Bellarmine, Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, and Utah.
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 eight true road contests and nine of its 11 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 is retiring 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 will have an 11-day break in between games before hitting the road to take on Air Force on Saturday, March 13. The Colonials have played their soon-to-be ASUN Conference rivals four times, with each team winning a pair. The Falcons were victorious in the previous two meetings in 2015 and 2016, while RMU won at home in 2010, 13-7, and on a neutral site in 2012, 17-14. Opening faceoff is set for 2:00 p.m. (ET) and noon (MT), with the contest being aired on Air Force's YouTube page.
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