Lewisburg, Pa. – The Robert Morris men's lacrosse team won their first game of the season 12-9, at Bucknell Saturday afternoon. With that win, the Colonials start the season off 1-0. The Bison's are now 1-1 in the 2023 season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It only took 58 seconds for the opening goal of the 2023 season for RMU.
Nick Pelletier would be the first Colonial to score on the year, assisted by the ASUN Championship goal hero in 2022,
Elliot Holden. In the opening quarter, RMU scored five unanswered, with three goals by sophomore
Nick Pelletier.
Will MacLeod and
Eric Swagerty scored the other two goals and after 15 minutes, RMU led 5-1.
In the second quarter, Bucknell earned the momentum, scoring five unanswered themselves.
Nate Randall made three saves in goal, but giving up three power-play opportunities to the home team didn't allow the Colonials to gain an offensive edge before the half was over. After 30 minutes of play, Bucknell took the lead 6-5.
After giving up the opening goal in the second half, RMU made a fresh start and got back to business.
Matt McShea and
Ben Starkey both scored to tie it up 7-7. Veteran midfielder
Will Johansen was next to snipe one in for the Colonials. Following his goal, the Canadian Pelletier scored his fourth of the contest. Before the end of the third period, all-time leading goal scorer in the ASUN,
Taggart Clark, scored his first of the season and 57
th in his career. Clark's goal would go down as the game-winner. Johansen added another and RMU took back to lead 11-8.
The fourth quarter was low scoring as both teams only scored one goal each. Johansen set up Holden for the team's final goal of the game, and would go on to win 12-9 in Lewisburg.
STARTING OFF STRONG
The Colonials got right back to their success from last season. All-time now, RMU is 3-2 against Bucknell, after losing to them in the opener last year, 14-12. This is the sixth time in program history that RMU has won the first game of the season. On the road, the opening quarter was pivotal for the Colonials as they scored the first five on the day.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Freshman
Will MacLeod scored his first goal of his career today for the Colonials. Defenseman James Chirstoforatos had one assist going into his senior season, but today he left with three on his resume. Senior
Matt McShea scored his first goal since his freshman season for RMU. Virginia native
Eric Swagerty now has 15 goals in his career after scoring against Bucknell today. Providing his first assist in his career,
Kean Moon added one to the score sheet. Sophomore
Nick Pelletier earned his first career four-goal game against the Bisons. Coming into today's game he had one goal and an assist this past season.
Will Johansen had his second career two-goal game for the Colonials. The last time he scored two goals was against Utah in the 2023 ASUN Championship game (5/7/22).
Taggart Clark now has four game winning goals at RMU and 77 career points with one goal and one assist at Bucknell. Midfielder
James Leary led all players in caused turnovers with three.
As a team, the Colonials put up 35 shots with 17 on goal. Robert Morris had 37 ground balls compared to Bucknell's 34. The team was 19-for-23 on clear attempts and 2-for-4 with the man-up advantage.
SAVE ME
Nate Randall stopped 16 shots against Bucknell which is a career-high for the sophomore from Michigan. His previous best was 15 vs. Bucknell last season (2/12/22). Randall played all 60 minutes and posted a .640 save percentage.
FACE-OFF SPECIALIST
Steven Dellemonache took all 24 face-offs for the Colonials on Saturday and won 15 of them. Dellemonache's 15 face-off wins are a career high. He had a .625-win percentage against the Bison's, another career best. The face-off specialist also earned his first career caused turnover.
UP NEXT
After their first test on the road, the Colonials return back home to host St. Bonaventure on Tuesday, February 21
st. The home opener will be played at the Joe Walton Stadium at 4:00 p.m.
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