Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team completes the regular season on Friday, May 7 when it travels to No. 9/10 Syracuse in a non-conference contest announced less than two weeks ago. This will be the first meeting between the Colonials and Orange in their histories. RMU is riding a four-game winning streak with triumphs over Jacksonville (16-15), Cleveland State (15-7), Bucknell (8-7), and Utah (16-12). Syracuse has swapped wins and losses in its last five games, topping Albany (13-8) and No. 5 Virginia (13-11) over that stretch.
GAME #13
Robert Morris Colonials (7-5) at No. 9/10 Syracuse Orange (6-5)
May 7, 2021 // 4:00 p.m. // Syracuse, N.Y. – Carrier Dome (49,250)
TV: ACC Network // Live Stats: Cuse.com
On-Air Talent: Jay Alter (play-by-play), Myles Jones (analyst)
History w/ Syracuse
Overall: 0-0 | Home: 0-0 | Away: 0-0 | Streak: N/A
Last Game: N/A
Robert Morris and Syracuse have never played each other. The Orange are one of three first-time opponents on the Colonials' 2021 slate, joining Duke (February 7) and Utah (May 1).
Scouting the Orange
John Desko is in his 23rd season coaching Syracuse, leading the Orange to five national championships (2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009), which is the third-most NCAA Championships at the NCAA Division I level of any head coach. Desko's 2021 team sits at 6-5 (2-4 ACC) and is ranked No. 9 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and No. 10 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Coaches' Poll.
Syracuse ranks fifth nationally in turnovers, committing just 13.64 per game. Redshirt senior attack Stephen Rehfuss paces the Orange offensively with team-highs in assists (24) and points (47), while also ranking second in goals (23). Freshman attack Owen Hiltz ranks second on the team in assists (17) and points (38), and he and Rehfuss are two of four players with 20 or more goals. Junior faceoff specialist Jakob Phaup is winning 54.6 percent (118-216) of his draws and leads the team in groundballs (51), and classmate Grant Murphy has a team-best 15 caused turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Drake Porter has started all 11 games, owning a 13.63 goals against average and .485 save percentage.
Last Time Out
RMU extended its winning streak to four last Saturday, using eight unanswered goals to turn a 12-8 deficit into a 16-12 victory over future ASUN Conference foe Utah. The Colonials trailed the Utes by four with 4:46 left in the third quarter, but held the hosts scoreless for the remainder of the contest while
Corson Kealey sparked the aforementioned eight-goal blitz with four tallies of his own.
Ryan Smith provided another stellar performance, leading the way with seven points (3g, 4a). Kealey scored a team-high four goals in his first appearance since March 20 at Virginia, while
Jake Boudreau (2g, 1a),
Will Johansen (2a),
Jimmy Perkins (2g), and
Brandon Sulhoff (2g) all recorded multiple points. Boudreau also scooped up a team-best six groundballs, and
Evan Hellmich and
Josh Schreibeis forced a pair of turnovers each.
Liam Rosenthal made 12 saves to pick up his sixth win of the season in net.
Ryan's Record Book
Graduate attack
Ryan Smith has put together an outstanding final season, breaking numerous records throughout the campaign. Smith shattered another standard last Saturday at Utah, as he surpassed Trevor Moore (2008-11) for the top spot in career goals with his 135th. The Burlington, Ontario native previously topped the career points and games played records this season, currently owning respective marks of 210 and 68.
Smith also owns or shares the RMU single-game records in goals (8; Feb. 10, 2010 at Canisius), assists (6; March 2, 2021 vs. Bellarmine), and points (11; March 2, 2021 vs. Bellarmine). He recorded his 10th hat trick of the season against the Utes, bringing him within striking distance of the program single-season point standard, as his current number of 64 (41g, 23a) is six behind
Luke Laszkiewicz's 2016 topper of 70.
Steel Curtain
RMU's defense has done an excellent job this season forcing mistakes out of its opponents, ranking seventh nationally in caused turnovers (9.42) and 15th in opponent clear percentage (.824). 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 VMI (10.36), Bucknell (10.25), Binghamton (10.11), Richmond (9.91), Hartford (9.86), and Bellarmine (9.47) rank ahead of RMU in caused turnovers per game, with all but the Knights playing fewer games than the Colonials.
Jimbo Slice
Graduate attack
Jimmy Perkins - one of two seventh-year players in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse this season - 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 106 tallies to his name, has scored 64 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 120 points (64g, 56a) with RMU and is eight 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.
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 April 26. 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.
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
Well-Rounded
Fourth-year
Jake Boudreau has been impressive this season as a two-way midfielder, leading RMU in groundballs (57) while ranking fifth in caused turnovers (9), goals (13), and points (23). Boudreau, a senior who plans on returning in 2022, is six groundballs and 19 points away from reaching the century mark in both statistics.
Boudreau's 57 groundballs in 2021 currently rank seventh in RMU single-season history, with all but one mark ahead of him achieved by faceoff specialists. The Brampton, Ontario native has recorded five or more groundballs in six contests this year. He has scored twice in two of those outings (Cleveland State, Utah) and provided four assists in the other (Colgate).
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.
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.
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Gameday App
