Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris men's lacrosse team lost their first conference game of the year, 12-6 vs. Jacksonville University. The Colonials after the game are now 3-3 on the year, and the Dolphins are 6-1 overall.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
To begin the game, junior
Liam Keane took matters into his own hands, scoring an unassisted goal. The Colonials took a 1-0 lead four minutes into the game. Following Keane's goal, four different players from Jacksonville scored a goal. All four were unanswered, and the Dolphins made it a 4-1 lead after 15 minutes of play.
Going into the second quarter, RMU got back on the board just 52 seconds into the new period.
Elliot Holden sprinted down and finished a shot to make it 4-2. In return, Dylan Watson of Jacksonville scored. With three and a half minutes remaining in the half, freshman
Will MacLeod scored off a great pass from
Liam Keane. In the final minute of the first half, Max Waldbaum scored two more and Jacksonville headed to the locker room with a 7-3 advantage.
Early on in the second half,
Nick Pelletier sniped his sixth goal of the season. The Colonials scored three of the first four goals in the half.
Liam Keane scored once again and
Taggart Clark picked up his 13
th of the season. Coming back from being down 7-3, the Colonials made it 8-6. But, Dylan Watson of the Dolphins would go on to score the last four goals of the ASUN matchup, including the only man-up goal of the game. Jacksonville proceeded to win 12-6 at the Joe Walton Stadium.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Stepping up today was junior
Liam Keane. He produced a three-point game against the Dolphins with two goals and one helper. With nine points in three games, Keane has surpassed his production in three games over the past two seasons. The other goal scorers on the day were senior captain
Elliot Holden, future NLL athlete
Taggart Clark, freshman
Will MacLeod and Ontario native
Nick Pelletier. Fifth-year captain
Will Johansen also added his name to the stats with one assist.
In the face-off circle, junior
Steven DelleMonache went 9-for-21 on face-offs. He picked up a team-high five ground balls. Picking up three ground balls on the day was senior captain
Owen Down,
Liam Keane and long stick midfielder
Johnny Chaisson. Down and Clark also caused a team-high two turnovers. In net,
Nate Randall made 10 saves.
Overall, as a team the Colonials put up 29 shots, scooped up 28 ground balls, caused ten turnovers and were 18-for-23 on clear attempts. RMU caused Jacksonville to make seven turnovers on their clear attempts. The Dolphins were therefore 21-for-28 on their clears.
DEFENSE FIRST
Sophomore goalkeeper
Nate Randall put on another impressive performance against the Dolphins to begin ASUN play. In six games, Randall has made 10 or more saves, five times. Overall, the goalie from Beverly Hills, Mich. has faced 240 shots on the year. With 66 saves, Randall owns a .515 save percentage. He's logged 356:23 minutes in six contests. Coming into this game, Randall was ranked third in the ASUN in saves with 56 saves before this contest.
ALL-TIME VS. JACKSONVILLE
In program history, the Colonials are now 5-3 all-time against the Dolphins. In two games against Jacksonville,
Elliot Holden and
Taggart Clark have both scored against the opposing program.
Owen Down has now caused five turnovers vs. the Dolphins in two games. Face-off specialist
Steven DelleMonache holds 23 wins on draws.
UP NEXT
Next week, the Colonials stay home at the Joe Walton Stadium, and will take on the Cleveland State Vikings on March 25
th, at 1:00 p.m. Saturday's game will be another ASUN conference game, and the program will be honoring the 2018 team that won the NEC Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
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