Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University men's lacrosse graduate attack Ryan Smith broke his own single-game record for points and tied the standard for assists as the Colonials enjoyed a dream home opener, thrashing Bellarmine, 17-8, this afternoon from a sun-soaked Joe Walton Stadium. RMU moves to 2-3 with the victory, while the Knights fall to 1-4.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU started off hot, opening the game with a 5-1 lead after the first quarter. Ryan Smith started things off with a blast off an Elliot Holden feed, then Holden found the back of the net three minutes later from a Dan Taddeo pass. Bellarmine cut the gap in half briefly at 7:23, but 11 seconds later Steven DelleMonache won a faceoff and dished it to Jimmy Perkins, who set up Smith for his second goal of the frame. Brandon Sulhoff made it 4-1 with an unassisted wrap-around with 5:26 on the clock, and Austin Popovich buried a Smith entry with 0.1 showing to give the Colonials a boost entering the next frame.
QUOTABLE
"We're very pleased with the performance from the guys," said RMU head coach Andrew McMinn. "Obviously getting our first game (at home) without having to take a long bus trip beforehand was nice. We challenged the guys with their effort and felt that really showed up in the groundball play, which is a big part on what separated us on the scoreboard."
SMITHERS, WHO IS THAT MAN?
Graduate attack Ryan Smith continued etching his place in program history, establishing a new single-game record for points (11) and tying the mark in assists (6) this afternoon. Smith previously owned the points standard with 10 at Canisius on Feb. 15, 2020, and now owns or shares the top spot in goals (8; at Canisius, Feb. 15, 2020), assists, and points. The Burlington, Ontario native and third overall draft pick by the Rochester Knighthawks in the 2020 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Entry Draft moved into second all-time at RMU in points (175) and is 20 shy of tying Trevor Moore (195; 2008-11) for the program record. He also climbed to fourth in career assists (63), and sits in that same position in goals (112).
FROM THE COACH
"Ryan (Smith) is such a tremendous player," said McMinn. "For him to go out there and perform at this level, it's become an expectation and a norm at this point. He's such a hard dodger to stop – his one-on-one ability and getting to the cage is pretty much as good as it gets. And as we saw today, when they're trying to stop him from getting his own, he's able to find the other guys around him and get them the ball as well."
FROM THE MAN HIMSELF
"We got back to who we were," added Smith. "We just ran our offense and it was me today, but it could really be anyone on our offense that goes off on any given day … It's definitely a cool feeling (moving into second place at RMU in career points). Everyone knows all the pro players who have come through this program, so it's definitely cool to know I'm right up there with them."
THE CLOSING STRETCH
While Smith was in the midst of a career afternoon, the Colonials were making sure to keep Bellarmine at bay any chance it would score a goal. The Knights struck early in the final frame courtesy of a Griffin Bowie tally, but Jake Boudreau answered 1:08 later from an Austin Popovich feed on the man-up. Smith picked up his ninth point on Sulhoff's second tally of the day to make it 14-6, then matched the single-game record with 5:33 to go by setting up a Popovich goal at 15-7. Earning another man-up opportunity in the final minute, Smith connected with Jimmy Perkins and the seventh-year attack buried his chance, giving him that record-breaking 11th point.
LIAM IN NET
Following a 10-save performance in relief at Notre Dame this past Saturday, sophomore goalkeeper Liam Rosenthal earned his first career start in the cage this afternoon and didn't disappoint. Rosenthal made 14 saves while allowing just seven goals in 56:09, with nine of those stops coming in the first half. The Doylestown, Pa. native helped keep RMU ahead from the jump, making five saves in the opening 15 minutes as the offense opened up a 5-1 lead. He now owns a .585 save percentage and 11.21 goals against average through 90:59 this season.
QUOTABLE
"Liam (Rosenthal) has earned it over the last couple of weeks," said McMinn. "He went in as relief against Notre Dame and played at a very high level in the backup responsibility he had, and that carried into the last couple of days. I felt he earned this start, and he went out there and showed exactly why with a performance we expect to get from our goaltenders."
BOBBY MO GOT HOT
RMU's offensive performance was a balanced one, with eight different goal scorers and 11 players recording a point. 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. Torin Neal also ripped the net, while Will Johansen tallied an assist. The 17-goal outburst was the most for the Colonials in a home opener since Feb. 20, 2016, when they defeated Manhattan, 19-6.
HIGH HONORS
Smith was one of three players who shared the groundball lead, as he, Owen Down, and Evan Hellmich collected four apiece. Blake Lori forced a pair of turnovers to lead RMU in that category, and DelleMonache went 10-of-16 at the X. Kyle Playsted was Bellarmine's leading scorer at four points (1g, 3a), and J.T. Simonton recorded a game-high five groundballs and 12 faceoff wins.
NEXT UP
RMU hits the road again for another matchup with a future ASUN Conference foe, as it travels west to Air Force on Saturday, March 13. Opening faceoff is set for 2:00 p.m. (ET), 12:00 p.m. (MT) from The Centennial State, and the contest can be seen live on the Air Force Athletics' YouTube page.
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