Lewisburg, Pa. – A stellar defensive performance lifted the Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team to its third straight win, as the Colonials defeated Bucknell, 8-7, this evening from Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. RMU moves to 6-5 (.545) with the victory, while Bucknell falls to 2-5 (.286).
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU broke a 3-3 halftime deadlock with a 3-0 third-quarter run, but Bucknell scored three of the next four goals to pull within one at 7-6 with 7:29 remaining. The Colonials regrouped out of the media timeout however, scoring 13 seconds later after Michael Autry's faceoff win led to Ryan Smith finding Brandon Sulhoff on the doorstep. That would prove to be the deciding goal after the Bison restored the one-goal gap at 4:55, as RMU forced a pair of turnovers and Liam Rosenthal made a late save to extend the team's winning streak to a season-best three games.
LIDSTONE LID-LIFTER
Offense was hard to come by this evening, but the Colonials received a quarter of their goals from a new source in junior midfielder Colton Lidstone. Lidstone opened the scoring midway through the first quarter with the first tally of his career, then made it a brace with 7:06 to go in the third off a pass from Elliot Holden. The Victoria, British Columbia product previously recorded his first collegiate point last Saturday against Cleveland State, and is now the eighth Colonial this season to net multiple goals in a game.
BOBBY MO-MENTUM
Bucknell seemed as if it would carry a lead into halftime after Tanner Germain scored late in the second quarter, but Jake Boudreau found Ryan Smith slicing towards the net with 10 seconds remaining to knot the score at 3-3. That seemed to shift the pendulum in RMU's favor entering the second half, as the visitors used goals from Brandon Sulhoff, Jimmy Perkins, and the aforementioned Lidstone to grab their first lead since the opening goal.
ANOTHER RYAN RECORD
Less than a week after breaking the program's all-time points record, graduate attack Ryan Smith took sole possession of the career games played standard by appearing in his 67th tonight. Smith broke a three-way tie with former teammates Will Ewing and Daniel Smith, and netted two goals and an assist in his penultimate collegiate contest. The 2021 Senior CLASS Award finalist from Burlington, Ontario will enter his final game three goals shy of breaking Trevor Moore's school record, as he sits at 132 tallies for his career.
STEEL CURTAIN
RMU's defense was strong once again this evening, holding its second straight opponent to a season-best seven goals. The Colonials won the groundball battle, 40-29, and had a cause in 12 of Bucknell's 18 turnovers. Five different RMU players (Owen Down, Evan Hellmich, Will Johansen, Ryan Smith, Shaun Vines) forced two mistakes each, with Down adding a career-high five groundballs. Between the pipes, sophomore Liam Rosenthal was above a .600 save percentage for the second time in 2021, as he made 13 saves against seven goals (.650) to pick up his fifth win of the season.
PAST BECOMING PRESENT
This was just the third meeting between RMU and Bucknell in their histories, with tonight's win moving the Colonials ahead in the all-time series, 2-1. RMU took the inaugural matchup 10 years ago in a similar defensive battle, picking up its first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent with a 7-5 triumph over the No. 17 Bison. Charles Ruppert made 12 saves in that win, while Trevor Moore broke a 5-5 deadlock by netting the game-winner with 6:40 remaining.
NEXT UP
RMU completes its season on Saturday, May 1 at Utah. Slated for a 1:00 p.m. (ET), 11:00 a.m. (MT) start in Salt Lake City, the contest will help graduate student Jimmy Perkins come full circle, as the Quaker Valley High School alumnus originally spent four years at RMU (2015-18) before enrolling at Utah as a graduate transfer. He is one of two men's lacrosse student-athletes in 2021 to earn a seventh year of athletic eligibility, which he is concluding with the Colonials.
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