Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris men's lacrosse team will attempt to extend their win-streak as they welcome the Bellarmine Knights to Joe Walton Stadium on Saturday, April 9th for the Party on the Plaza.

GAME #10
Robert Morris Colonials (5-4) vs. Bellarmine Knights (3-9)
April 9, 2022 // 3:00 p.m. // Moon Township, Pa. – Joe Walton Stadium (3,000)
Live Stats: RMUColonials.com // Video: ESPN+ // Tickets
 
History w/ Bellarmine
Overall: 7-7 | Home: 5-3 | Away: 2-4 | Neutral: 0-0
Robert Morris has faced Bellarmine every season, with the exception of 2007 and 2020. However, this will be the first contest that counts towards conference play. In the last four meetings, the Colonials have defeated the Knights. Three of those four wins took place at Joe Walton Stadium.
Graduate-student Jake Boudreau had a hat trick in Bellarmine's last trip to Moon Township.

Scouting the Knights
Andrew Whitley is in his 3rd season with Bellarmine, where he has put together a 10-25 record with the program. The Knights are coming off of a 15-11 victory over Cleveland State on April 2nd, which opened conference play for Bellarmine.
Reigning ASUN Player of the Week, Kyle Playsted leads the Knight's offense. The sophomore leads the team with 19 goals, 22 assists and 41 points.  
Goalkeeper JC Higginbotham has played 523:53 minutes in net for Bellarmine this season with a 12.35 GAA and a .479 SV%.
Bellarmine was chosen to finish fourth of six teams in the ASUN in 2022. The 2022 season marks the inaugural season for the Knights as a member of the ASUN.

Let's Review
It took most of the first quarter for the Colonials to really pick up their speed against Detroit Mercy. However, at the 10:08 mark of the first, reigning ASUN Player of the Week Corson Kealey opened the game, and the ASUN's conference, scoring. With five remaining in the quarter, the Titian's top scorer Brett Erskine tied the game at one.

Ending the first quarter in a low-scoring tie, Jake Boudreau scored his 12th of the season to give the Colonials the 2-1 lead, which they would not give up for the remainder of the contest. Before the completion of the half, RMU posted a 6-1 run, holding the Titans scoreless for over five minutes.

In the second half of the game, RMU outscored Detroit Mercy, 7-2, with Corson Kealey and Taggart Clark both tallying four goals. This is the second-straight six-point performance from Kealey.

Party On The Plaza
Saturday's game against Bellarmine will serve as the latter half of Party on the Plaza, a day-long celebration of all things Colonials lacrosse starting at 11 a.m. with a beer garden and live DJ set up on the plaza outside Joe Walton Stadium. Following the women's game against Kent State at noon, the men's team will take the field to face Bellarmine. The afternoon will also feature specialty concessions as well as a wide selection of beer options.

Keal-ing It
Corson Kealey is now riding an 18-game scoring streak, dating back to the beginning of the 2021 season. The graduate student achieved multiple single-game, season-highs with six-points, 13 shots, one CTO and four ground balls. Additionally, this marks his second-straight game with six points. With this, Kealey now ranks 23rd in the nation in points per game.

Nationally Ranked
Going into Saturday's meeting, the Colonials are scoring 13.55 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 3.33 goals per game is tied for 9th in all of NCAA Division I men's lacrosse. After his four-goal game against Detroit Mercy, Corson Kealey now sits in a three-way tie for the 14th in the nation with 3.22 goals per game. Sophomore Bo Columbus ranks 30th in the nation in ground balls per game with 5.89. Additionally, the transfer ranks 20th in the nation in face-off win percentage, getting the ball 57% on the time on the draw.

Don't Look Directly into the (A)SUN
Several Colonials sit in the top three for multiple ASUN categories. Bo Columbus leads the ASUN in both groundballs (52) and face-off wins (122). Corson Kealey ranks third in points (40) and third in goals (29), while Taggart Clark falls only four goals behind ASUN goal leader, Brenden Crouse, of Air Force, with 30 goals on the season. Both Jake Boudreau and Dan Taddeo sit in a three-way tie for third place when it comes to assists. Both players hold 14 helpers on the year.

Sweet Home, Pennsylvania
The Colonials have only played nine games at Joe Walton Stadium dating back to 2019. With five home games in the books for the 2022 season, RMU sits at 3-2 at Joe Walton Stadium, winning three of their last four home games.

Bo Knows Lax
Transfer Bo Columbus has been a standout in the FOGO position, with a .555% FO percentage, the Colonials are now ranked 24th in the nation in terms of face-off percentage. In seven of his nine games this season, the sophomore has been over 50% in the circle. He spent four-games with a win percentage in the 60's and, most recently against Detroit Mercy, registered a 70% FO win percentage.
 
Unsung Heroes
The RMU defense has been the definition of resilient this season, allowing just 109 goals to get by them, facing three teams in the Top-20 scoring offenses. The Colonials rank 17th in the nation in man-down defense, 16th in clearing percentage, 7th in the nation in CTO per game, and 31st 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 travel to Salt Lake City, Utah on April 16th to meet the Utah Utes. Game time is set for 3 p.m. EST from Ute Field.