Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team continues another extended road swing on Saturday, March 20 when it faces No. 9 Virginia. This will be the fourth meeting between the Colonials and Cavaliers, with their most recent clash coming in the 2019 NCAA Tournament First Round. RMU enters at 3-3 overall and is riding a two-game winning streak with triumphs over Air Force (14-13) and Bellarmine (17-8). Virginia carries a 5-2 mark into this tilt, and most recently fell at home to No. 1 North Carolina, 16-13.
 
GAME #7
Robert Morris Colonials (3-3) at #9 Virginia Cavaliers (5-2)
March 20, 2021 // 3:00 p.m. // Charlottesville, Va. – Klöckner Stadium (7,100)
Live Video: ACC Network Extra // Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
History w/ Virginia
Overall: 0-3 | Home: 0-0 | Away: 0-3 | Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: L3
Last Game: May 10, 2019 – Charlottesville, Va. – No. 3 Virginia 19, Robert Morris 10 (NCAA Tournament First Round)
 
Robert Morris and Virginia have played three times in their histories, clashing in the 2010, 2017, and 2019 seasons. All three previous meetings have been in Charlottesville, Va., and the Cavaliers have been in the national rankings each matchup.
 
The most recent NCAA Tournament featured a RMU-Virginia game, with the Cavaliers collecting a 19-10 win in the First Round. Corson Kealey scored a team-high four goals for the Colonials, with Tyson Gibson (2g, 5a) and Matt Schmidt (2g, 2a) also registering multiple points. Defensively, Jack Toomb recorded four groundballs and a pair of caused turnovers, and Alex Heger tallied a career-high seven groundballs while making 16 saves in the cage.
 
In their last regular-season meeting, No. 18 Virginia outlasted RMU, 13-7. Schmidt posted a hat trick offensively to lead the visitors, while four different Colonials (Zac Christianson, Mike Eveland, Heger, Shane Majewski) all scooped up a team-best five groundballs. Heger stopped 19 shots in 58:54 of action, and Zachary Bryant caused three turnovers.
 
Scouting the Cavaliers
Lars Tiffany is in his fifth season coaching Virginia, leading the Cavaliers to two NCAA Tournaments and the 2019 national championship. Tiffany's 2021 group is currently 5-2 (0-2 ACC) and ranked No. 9 in both the Inside Lacrosse Media and United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Coaches' Polls, and entered the season picked to finish third in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
Virginia leads the nation in opponent clearing percentage, holding teams to a 69.9-percent conversion rate. Redshirt freshman attack Connor Shellenberger leads the Cavaliers offensively with 32 points (13g, 19a), and joins three other players with double-digit goals in senior Matt Moore (13), sophomore Payton Cormier (17, team-high), and graduate transfer Charlie Bertrand (15), who is formerly of Merrimack. Junior midfielder Petey LaSalla is 12th nationally in groundballs (7.57 per game) and 16th in face-off percentage (.639). On defense, senior Kyle Kology has recorded a team-best 13 caused turnovers and classmate Alex Rode has started five of seven contests in goal, owning a 12.96 goals against average and .537 save percentage.
 
Last Time Out
RMU netted its second consecutive win last Saturday, using an eight-goal flurry in the second quarter to top Air Force in the snow, 14-13. The Colonials saw their lead reach 14-6 with 10:28 remaining in the third quarter before the Falcons started on the comeback trail. Holding onto a 14-12 advantage with 8:35 left, RMU used a pair of Liam Rosenthal saves and caused turnovers by Evan Hellmich, James Leary, and Ryan Smith to keep the gap at two goals through all but the final second.
 
Rosenthal was stellar in his second straight start, making a career-high 17 saves for a .567 save percentage. Graduate attackmen Jimmy Perkins (4g, 2a) and Ryan Smith (3g, 2a) led the Colonials offensively, while Corson Kealey (2g, 1a), Austin Popovich (2g, 1a), and Dan Taddeo (2a) all recorded multiple points. Senior midfielder Jake Boudreau collected a game-high seven groundballs, and freshman faceoff specialist Steven DelleMonache went 7-of-13 at the X.
 
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 March 11. 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 fourth nationally in points (34), fifth in goals (21), 10th in assists (13), 13th in goals per game (3.50), 14th in points per game (5.67), and 26th in assists per game (2.17). On March 9, 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 on March 4, 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 has brought stability in the cage as of late, making double-digit saves in each of the last three games. He is coming off a career-high 17-save performance at Air Force last Saturday, and allowed just seven goals while stopping 14 shots in his first career start against Bellarmine on March 2.
 
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 .577 save percentage and 11.92 goals against average through 150:59 this season after playing 56:58 over two contests in last year's abbreviated campaign.
 
Keep It 100
Graduate student Jimmy Perkins - one of two seventh-year players in NCAA Division I lacrosse - is on the cup of the 100 point milestone, needing seven more points to achieve the accomplishment in a RMU uniform. Perkins has recorded 99 points with the Colonials on 51 goals and 48 assists, and owns 151 career points (93g, 58a) when adding in his 18 appearances at Utah between 2019-20.
 
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 108 points, which puts him 20 points shy of breaking into the top 10 in that category at RMU. The Ottawa, Ontario native also is six goals away from top-10 status there, and also currently slots fifth in goals per game (1.84) and ninth in points per game (2.45).
 
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 (180), fourth in goals (115) and assists (65), and seventh in starts (52), and games played (62). Smith needs to play five more games to take sole possession of first place, and can eclipse Trevor Moore (2008-11) for first in goals and points with 20 and 16, respectively.
 
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 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, and they plan on holding a formal jersey retirement ceremony sometime in 2021.
 
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).
 
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 finishes off a three-game stretch away from Moon Township on Saturday, April 3 at 3:00 p.m. when it faces Jacksonville in the Crown Lacrosse Classic. Played on a neutral site in Rock Hill, S.C., this will mark the sixth season the teams have faced each other and the second straight on a neutral field, previously playing at U.S. Lacrosse Headquarters on Feb. 23, 2020.

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