Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris men's lacrosse team is set to travel to Salt Lake City this weekend to meet with Utah, who serves as the only other team in the ASUN without a loss in conference competition.

GAME #11
Robert Morris Colonials (6-4, 2-0 ASUN) at Utah Utes (6-3, 2-0 ASUN)
April 14, 2022 // 3:00 p.m. EST // Salt Lake City, Utah. – Rice-Eccles Stadium (51,444)
Live Stats: UtahUtes.com // Video: UTAH LIVE STREAM
 
History w/ Utah
Overall: 1-0 | Home: 0-0 | Away: 1-0 | Neutral: 0-0

Saturday will mark only the second time that RMU has faced the Utes. In the 2021 season, the Colonials traveled to Salt Lake City and defeated Utah by a final score of 16-12.

In their last meeting, RMU left the third quarter trailing 12-10. However, the Colonials had a shut-out fourth quarter that was highlighted by a six-goal run. Three of those goals were registered by Corson Kealey, while Jake Boudreau and Johnny Chaisson also tallied a goal apiece.

Scouting the Utes
Andrew McMinn is in his first season with Utah, where he has put together a 6-3 record with the program.  The Utes are coming off a 15-11 victory over Cleveland State on April 9nd. Utah and RMU are the only ASUN schools that remain perfect in conference play.

Sophomore Tyler Bradbury leads the Utes in points with 32 on the season. Goalkeeper Zion Dechesere has played 443:14 minutes in net for Utah this season with a 10.42 GAA and a .479 SV%.

Utah was chosen to finish first in the ASUN in 2022. The 2022 season additionally marks the inaugural season for the Utes as a member of the ASUN.

Let's Review
Midfielder Jake Boudreau opened the game's scoring against Bellarmine on April 9th. However, it would not take long for Bellarmine to take advantage of the atrocious weather conditions. Going on a three-goal run before Taggart Clark and Corson Kealey brought the game to a tie.

Back-and-fourth goal scoring for both teams carried all the way through the midway mark of the third quarter, where the Knights repeatedly held a two-goal lead over RMU. That was until Owen Down scored his first career goal at the 3:46 mark of the third quarter to send the Colonials on a five-goal run to close out the game, eventually coming back to win 12-9.

Keal-ing It
Corson Kealey is now riding a 19-game scoring streak, which dates back to the beginning of the 2021 season. In conference play alone, the graduate student has tallied 7 goals, 3 assists and 10 points. Kealey now ranks 24th in the nation in points per game.

Nationally Ranked
Going into Saturday's meeting, the Colonials are scoring 13.4 goals per game. Taggart Clark sits among the top 10 players in the country when it comes to goals scored per game. Clark, who is averaging 3.4 goals per game is tied for 6th in all of NCAA Division I men's lacrosse.

After his hat trick against Bellarmine, Corson Kealey now tied with fellow ASUN competitor, Brandon Dodd, for 16th place, averaging 3.20 goals per game.

Sophomore Bo Columbus ranks 32nd in the nation in ground balls per game with 5.7. Additionally, the transfer ranks 19th in the nation in face-off win percentage, getting the ball 57% on the time on the draw.

The RMU scoring offense ranks 23rd in the country.

Don't Look Directly into the (A)SUN
Bo Columbus ranks second in the ASUN in groundballs (57) and leads in face-off wins (136).
Corson Kealey ranks fourth in both points (43) and goals (31). Taggart Clark is now tied with Brenden Crouse of Air Force for the leading scorer title with 34 goals on the season.

Dan Taddeo sits in a three-way tie for second place when it comes to assists with 17 on the season. Meanwhile Jake Boudreau ranks 6th in the conference with 15 helpers in 2022.

The Colonials are first in the ASUN, in both scoring offense and points per game.

Sweet Home, Pennsylvania
The Colonials have only played 9 games at Joe Walton Stadium between 2019 and 2021. With six home games in the books for the 2022 season, RMU sits at 4-2 at Joe Walton Stadium, winning four of their last five home games.

Unsung Heroes
The RMU defense has been the definition of resilient this season. The Colonials have allowed just 118 goals to get by them this season. In 2022, RMU face four teams with a Top-25 scoring offense in Duke (6th), Bucknell (21st), High Point (20th) and Stony Brook (17th).

The Colonials rank 20th in the nation in man-down defense, 16th in clearing percentage, 3rd in the nation in CTO per game, and 30th in the nation in ground balls per game.

ASUN
2022 will serve as the inaugural year for the Colonials in the ASUN Conference. RMU previously competed in the NEC, where they saw success in the form of three conference championships and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. After playing unattached in 2021, the Colonials joined the ASUN. RMU was chosen to finish third in the preseason polls with Corson Kealey being named the 2022 ASUN Preseason Player of the Year, Jake Boudreau being selected as the 2022 ASUN Preseason Midfielder of the Year, and both earning a spot on the 2022 ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team, along with senior Owen Down on defense.

Next Up
Robert Morris will conclude their home slate on Saturday, April 23rd, when Air Force comes to Joe Walton Stadium. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Prior to the game, we will be honoring 11 student-athletes in a Senior Day ceremony.