Moon Township, Pa. – After a weekend off, the
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, May 1 at 1:00 p.m. (ET), 11:00 a.m. (MT) when it travels to Utah. RMU carries a 6-5 overall record into the matchup, winning its last three against Jacksonville (16-15), Cleveland State (15-7), and Bucknell (8-7). Utah sits at 4-6 and is coming off an 11-9 victory against the Vikings in Cleveland.
GAME #12
Robert Morris Colonials (6-5) at Utah Utes (4-6)
May 1, 2021 // 1:00 p.m. (ET), 11:00 a.m. (MT) // Salt Lake City, Utah – Ute Field
Live Video: Pac-12.com // Live Stats: StatBroadcast
History w/ Utah
Overall: 0-0 | Home: 0-0 | Away: 0-0 | Streak: N/A
Last Game: N/A
This will be the first time that Robert Morris and Utah have played. The Utes are one of three first-time opponents on the Colonials' schedule, joining Duke and Syracuse.
Scouting the Utes
Third-year head coach Brian Holman has been leading Utah since its transition from club to NCAA competition, and has the Utes at 4-6 overall with wins over Bellarmine (12-7), Westminster [Utah] (18-5), Boston University (11-10, 2OT), and Cleveland State (11-9). Utah has played three nationally-ranked foes in No. 7 Denver (8-9), No. 11 Loyola [Md.] (8-20), and No. 4 Virginia (11-18).
True freshman Tyler Bradbury leads Utah offensively with a team-high 21 assists and 34 points. His 13 goals are second on the team behind classmate Jordan Hyde, who has 14 goals and 18 points. Another first-year, Cole Brams, is winning 50.5 percent (105-208) of his faceoffs and has collected a team-best 60 groundballs. Defensively, Sophomore defenseman Samuel Cambere tops his teammates in caused turnovers with 13, while second-years Zion Dechesere and Zack Johns have split the starts in goal. Johns has started five contests and played in seven, owning a .529 save percentage and 10.23 goals against average. Dechesere has played five games and started four, posting a .484 save percentage and 11.35 goals against average.
Last Time Out
RMU last played on April 16, using a stellar defensive effort to defeat Bucknell on the road, 8-7. The Colonials broke a 3-3 halftime deadlock with a 3-0 third-quarter run, then scored what was ultimately the game-winner with 7:16 remaining after the Bison trimmed the gap to 7-6. It was RMU's second win in three tries over Bucknell, similar to its first triumph in 2012 – which was a 7-5 win against a No. 17 Bison squad.
Colton Lidstone scored the first two goals of his collegiate career in the win, ripping the net in the first and third quarters.
Ryan Smith (2g, 1a) and
Brandon Sulhoff (2g, 1a) provided a team-best three points each, with Smith also serving as one of five Colonials to force two turnovers.
Owen Down collected a game-high five groundballs defensively, and
Liam Rosenthal made 13 saves to pick up the victory in net.
Full Circle
One of two seventh-year players in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse this season,
Jimmy Perkins is set to play his former team in Utah this Saturday. Perkins spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Utes, utilizing his graduate transfer following a four-year run at RMU. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native then took advantage of the waiver granting all 2020 spring sport student-athletes an additional year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, returning to Moon Township to complete his collegiate career.
Perkins was a two-year team captain for Utah, recording 60 points (42g, 18a) in 17 contests from 2019-20. He scored the Utes' first goal in program history on Feb. 1, 2019 against Vermont and finished the 2019 season ranked 12th nationally in man-up goals (7). Back at RMU, the seventh-year attack sits second on the team in goals (24), assists (15), and points (39), and third in groundballs (29).
A (New) Agent of Chaos
Graduate attack
Ryan Smith was picked by Chaos Lacrosse Club in the fourth round (30th overall) of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) College Draft on Monday. Chaos LC advanced to the PLL Championship last season and finished the 2019 campaign with a league-best 7-3 record.
Smith, who was also picked third overall by the Rochester Knighthawks in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) Entry Draft seven months ago, becomes the fourth different Colonial to be chosen in two different collegiate drafts. The previous three players – Zach Bryant,
Tyson Gibson, Kiel Matisz – were picked in both the NLL and Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Drafts. Their draft histories are below:
Zach Bryant – 4th round, 50th overall by the San Diego Seals in the 2018 NLL Entry Draft; 5th round, 45th overall by the Ohio Machine in the 2018 MLL Collegiate Draft
Tyson Gibson – 1st round, 1st overall by the New York Riptide in the 2019 NLL Entry Draft; 5th round, 41st overall by the Atlanta Blaze in the 2019 MLL Collegiate Draft
Kiel Matisz – 1st round, 3rd overall by the Minnesota Swarm in the 2012 NLL Entry Draft; 7th round, 55th overall by the Hamilton Nationals in the 2012 MLL Collegiate Draft
Ryan Smith – 1st round, 3rd overall by the Rochester Knighthawks in the 2020 NLL Entry Draft; 4th round, 30th overall by Chaos Lacrosse Club in the 2021 PLL College Draft
Steel Curtain
RMU's defense has done an excellent job this season forcing mistakes out of its opponents, ranking fourth nationally in caused turnovers (9.82) and 11th in opponent clearing percentage (.811). The caused turnover number is even more impressive when you consider it has been a total team effort in that department, with 10 different Colonials recording between six and 13 caused turnovers.
Ryan Smith leads the team with 13 caused turnovers, a new career-high for the graduate attack.
Owen Down follows him with 12, while
Shaun Vines and
James Leary are also in double-digits with 10 apiece. Only Bucknell (10.25), Dartmouth (10.00), and Hartford (9.86) rank ahead of RMU in caused turnovers per game, with all three of those teams playing fewer games than the Colonials, and one (Dartmouth) only competing once this season.
Ryan Runs Down Records
Graduate attack
Ryan Smith has spent his entire final season at RMU breaking numerous program records, including career points (203) and games played (67). Entering this Saturday's matchup at Utah, Smith can take sole possession of the all-time goals standard, needing three to surpass Trevor Moore (134; 2008-11). The Burlington, Ontario native also ranks third in games started (57) and fourth in assists (71).
Despite the 2021 season being shorter than previous ones, Smith could also set a new standard for single-season points, needing 13 more to top
Luke Laszkiewicz's record of 70 that was established in 2016. The Senior CLASS Award finalist enters the weekend ranking fifth nationally in goals (38) and ranks eighth in that category on a per-game basis (3.45). He also sits sixth in points (57) and 10th on a per-game average (5.18), with both his goals and points per game marks currently serving as RMU single-season records. Smith currently owns or shares each of the single-game scoring records at eight goals (Feb. 15, 2020 at Canisius), six assists (March 2, 2021 vs. Bellarmine), and 11 points (March 2, 2021 vs. Bellarmine).
Jimbo Slice
Graduate attack
Jimmy Perkins continues to meet milestones in his final hurrah, with his hat trick against Jacksonville on April 3 giving him over 100 career goals. Perkins, who now has 104 tallies to his name, has scored 62 of those goals while donning RMU colors with the other 42 coming in a two-year span at Utah from 2019-20.
Perkins also became the 17th player in program history to record 100 points with the Colonials earlier in the season, reaching the century mark on March 20 at No. 9 Virginia. The seventh-year player has 118 points (62g, 56a) with RMU and is 10 shy of breaking into the top 10 in that category. He also ranks sixth all-time in assists, needing five more helpers to move into the top five.
Well-Rounded
Fourth-year
Jake Boudreau has been impressive this season as a two-way midfielder, leading RMU in groundballs (51) while ranking fifth in caused turnovers (9) and points (20), and sixth in goals (11). Boudreau, a senior who plans on returning in 2022, is 10 groundballs and 22 points away from reaching the century mark in both statistics.
Boudreau's 4.64 groundballs per game this season currently ranks seventh in RMU single-season history, with the six marks ahead of him all achieved by faceoff specialists. The Brampton, Ontario native has recorded five or more groundballs in five contests this year, and needs four more groundballs to break into the top 10 of the single-season leaderboard.
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 10 true road contests and 11 of its 13 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).
Next Up
RMU added a game to its schedule this week, and will complete its regular season on Friday, May 7 at Syracuse. The clash between the Colonials and Orange will begin at 4:00 p.m. from the Carrier Dome, and is the first meeting between the two sides.
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