Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team begins another road trip on Saturday, March 13 when it travels to Air Force for a clash between two future ASUN Conference foes. The Colonials are coming off a 17-8 win over Bellarmine in their home opener on March 2, and kick off a three-game road swing with Virginia and a neutral-site bout with Jacksonville following.
 
GAME #6
Robert Morris Colonials (2-3) at Air Force Falcons (1-3)
March 13, 2021 // 1:00 p.m. (ET) / 11:00 a.m. (MT) // USAFA, Colo. – Holaday Athletic Center
Live Video: N/A // Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
History w/ Air Force
Overall: 2-2 | Home: 1-1 | Away: 0-1 | Neutral: 1-0 | Streak: L2
Last Game: March 5, 2016 – Moon Township, Pa. – Air Force 11, Robert Morris 10
 
Robert Morris and Air Force played four times in their histories, with neither team owning an advantage. RMU captured wins at home in 2010 (13-7) and on Denver's home turf in 2012 (17-14), with the Falcons grabbing the last two victories in one-goal fashion in 2015 and 2016.
 
Five years ago, the Colonials nearly made up an 8-3 halftime deficit but ultimately fell to Air Force, 11-10. Luke Laszkiewicz tied the then-program record in goals with seven, while Adrian Torok-Orban provided the other three goals for RMU. Laszkiewicz's final tally tied the game at 10-10 with 3:22 remaining, but Danny Brown provided the winner just 1:09 later. Matt Bukovac and Alex Heger combined to make 12 saves in net for the hosts.
 
RMU's last win in the series came in the DU Face-Off Classic, a 17-14 triumph on Feb. 25, 2012. Jake Hayes scored seven of the Colonials' goals and added an assist, while Kyle Buchanan, Kevin Brownell, and Kiel Matisz also posted two-goal performances. Mike Grosz finished 13-of-21 at the X and scooped five groundballs, while Bukovac picked up the win in goal by making nine saves over the opening 38:50.
 
Scouting the Falcons
Third-year head coach Bill Wilson has Air Force at 1-3 through a difficult early 2021 schedule, with the Falcons' lone win coming on Feb. 20 in overtime against Utah, 10-9. Air Force's three other games have come against nationally-ranked foes, falling to No. 10/5 Denver (6-15), No. 2/1 Duke (7-17), and No. 8/9 Virginia (4-20). The Falcons were selected to finish third in the Preseason Southern Conference Coaches' Poll, receiving 26 points from the seven-team field.
 
Senior midfielder Matthew O'Rourk (5g, 2a) and sophomore attack Ethan Grandolfo (4g, 3a) lead a balanced attack offensively, with six different players contributing at least four points each. Another senior midfielder, Sterling Ceshker, paces the Falcons in groundballs (15), while sophomore Dylan Frankhouser (24-65) and junior Brian Michael (11-30) share the faceoff duties. Freshman defenseman Chris Bardak has been a bright spot defensively with a team-high six caused turnovers, and senior goalkeeper Braden Host owns a 14.93 goals against average and .459 save percentage in 184:50 as the primary option.
 
Last Time Out
RMU last played on March 2, opening its two-game home slate with a dominant 17-8 win over Bellarmine. The Colonials outscored the Knights, 5-1, in the opening frame and never let up from there, adding two more five-goal frames in the second half to move to 2-3 on the season.
 
Ryan Smith broke his own program record for points with 11 offensively, reaching the number on five goals and six assists. Austin Popovich (3g, 2a) and Jake Boudreau (3g) both posted hat tricks, and Elliot Holden (1g, 1a), Corson Kealey (1g, 1a), Jimmy Perkins (1g, 1a), and Brandon Sulhoff (2g) all registered multi-point efforts. Steven DelleMonache went 10-of-16 at the X for the hosts, and Liam Rosenthal made 14 saves in his first career start in the cage.
 
Smithers, You Just Made the List
Graduate attack Ryan Smith has enjoyed an outstanding final hurrah thus far, and was recognized nationally for his efforts by making the 2021 Tewaaraton Men's Watch List on Thursday. Smith is the third RMU student-athlete to make the list, joining two-time nominees Alex Heger (2018, 2019) and Kiel Matisz (2011, 2012). Matisz ultimately moved onto the semifinalist round in the 2012 season.
 
Smith, who was selected third overall by the Rochester Knighthawks in the 2020 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Entry Draft last September, ranks fifth nationally in goals (18) and points (29), 10th in assists (11), 15th in goals per game (3.60), 18th in points per game (5.80), and 30th in assists per game (2.20). On Tuesday, he was named to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) / Dynamic Division I Team of the Week for the second time in his career following an 11-point outburst in the Colonials' home opener against Bellarmine.
 
Stay Classy
Graduate attack duo Jimmy Perkins and Ryan Smith were tabbed as two of the 20 nominees for the Senior CLASS Award last Thursday, making them the fifth and sixth RMU student-athletes to be nominated. The Colonials are one of four schools to produce multiple candidates, joining Lehigh (2), Ohio State (3), and Syracuse (3).
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season.
 
Perkins and Smith join Kiel Matisz (2012), Sean Meagher (2014), James Rahe (2016), and Tyson Gibson (2019) among RMU's nominees. Matisz was later selected as a finalist.
 
Liam in Net
Sophomore goalkeeper Liam Rosenthal made his first career start on March 2 versus Bellarmine and didn't disappoint, making 14 saves while allowing just seven goals in 56:09. Nine of those saves came in the first half, and five were provided in the opening 15 minutes as his offense grabbed a 5-1 lead.
 
Rosenthal previously entered in relief at Notre Dame on Feb. 27, making 10 saves against the nationally-ranked Fighting Irish. The Doylestown, Pa. native now owns a .585 save percentage and 11.21 goals against average through 90:59 this season after playing 56:58 over two contests in last year's abbreviated campaign.
 
More Records for Ryan
Graduate attack Ryan Smith now owns or shares the single-game program records in each main statistical category following the Colonials' 17-8 win over Bellarmine on March 2. Smith topped his own mark in points with 11, and drew even with teammate Jimmy Perkins for the assist record with six. The Burlington, Ontario native also shares the goals record, tallying eight on Feb. 15, 2020 at Canisius.
 
If Smith finishes the season strong, he could be in possession of numerous career records as well. Entering this weekend's matchup, he ranks second all-time at RMU in points (175), fourth in goals (112) and assists (63), eighth in starts (51), and ninth in games played (61). Smith needs to play six more games to take sole possession of first place, and can eclipse Trevor Moore (2008-11) for first in goals and points with 23 and 21, respectively.
 
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 105 points, which puts him 23 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 (1.84) and eighth in points per game (2.44).
 
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 seven more points to achieve the accomplishment in a RMU uniform. Perkins has recorded 93 points with the Colonials on 47 goals and 46 assists, and owns 145 career points (89g, 56a) when adding in his 18 appearances at Utah between 2019-20.
 
A New Home (in 2022)
On 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 continues its second extended road swing on Saturday, March 20 when it travels to take on Virginia. The Colonials and Cavaliers last met in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, with No. 3 UVA taking home a 19-10 First Round triumph. Opening faceoff is set for 3:00 p.m. and the game will be aired live the ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) platform.

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