Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris men's lacrosse team earned their first win at home, 15-6 over St. Bonaventure University at Joe Walton Stadium. After a 2-0 start to the 2023 season, RMU remains at the top of the ASUN standings in first place. The St. Bonaventure Bonnies are now 0-3 to start the season.
 
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Starting the scoring for the day was Ben Starkey. The senior midfielder has now scored in back-to-back games for the Colonials to open the season. After the Bonnies got one back, David Burr scored his first career goal to regain the lead 2-1. Two minutes and 16 seconds later, Jake Rosa tied the game up with a goal for the visiting side.
 
For the next 18 minutes the RMU defense stood tall and the offense attacked endlessly. The Colonials scored six straight goals to take an 8-2 advantage with three minutes remaining in the first half. Buzzer beaters don't happen often in lacrosse, but with two seconds left in the half Matt Duncan scored his first goal in an RMU uniform, sniping a shot in the top corner off a breakaway sequence, executed well by himself and Matt McShea, providing the assist. After 30 minutes of play, RMU was ahead 10-4.
 
In the third quarter, both teams took penalties that resulted in six minutes of time in the penalty box on the sideline. As both teams shared man-up opportunities, the Colonials didn't allow a single goal while on the penalty kill. In return, David Burr scored his third of the game, counting as a man-up goal. Keeping the pressure on, RMU added four goals in the third frame and entered the final quarter up 13-5.
 
The fourth quarter offered the least amount of goals as only three in total were scored. Josh Rosa scored the one tally for the Bonnies and Jackson Foord along with Trevor Barrett sniping a goal within the final three minutes to secure a 15-6 victory.
 
COLONIAL FIRSTS
In his second career game with RMU, David Burr produced at a high level against the Bonnies, scoring a hat trick and adding an assist. The transfer from Rutgers earned his first collegiate points in today's game. From Hackettstown, N.J., Matt McShea registered an assist for the first time. His assist set up St. John's transfer Matt Duncan, scoring his first goal at RMU. Seniors Colton Lidstone and Torin Neal got their first points of the season.  
 
POWER PLAY SPECIALIST
In game one, Nick Pelletier provided a four-goal game. Following his steps, David Burr and Eric Swagerty earned four-point games. All three of Burr's goals were scored with the man-up advantage. His second goal would go on to be the game-winning goal.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
On the day, RMU out shot St. Bonaventure with 45 shots compared to their 30. RMU scooped up 35 ground balls in total; 12 more than SBU. The Colonials were 18-for-20 on clear attempts and managed to cause a turnover on four different occasions against the Bonnies. SBU went 0-4 on extra-man opportunities and RMU converted 4-out-of-6 times. At the face-off circle, Steven Dellemonache went 9-for-15 and sophomore Zach Seppi stepped in and won three out of his eight draws.
 
HOME ADVANTAGE
Since 2006, the Colonials are now 12-6 in their home opener games. In program history, RMU has hosted 106 times. In those 106 games, the program has collected 62 total wins (.585).
 
UP NEXT
The Colonials head back on the road to face Canisius College on Saturday, February 25^th at 12:00 p.m. They'll return home on Saturday, March 4^th to face Hobart at 12:00 p.m.
 
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