GAME 8
RMU (4-3 / 1-1 #ASUNMLAX) vs. Detroit Mercy (0-6 / 0-2 #ASUNMLAX)
Wednesday, March 29 | 1:00 p.m
Titan Field | Detroit, Mich.
 
TV: Titan Sports Network
Twitter: @RMUMLacrosse | Instagram: rmumlacrosse
 
Opening Face-Off

• The RMU men's lacrosse team heads north to take on the Detroit Mercy Titans in a weekday, conference match-up on Wednesday, March 29^th at 1:00 p.m.
• Last time out, the Colonials picked up their first ASUN victory of the season, beating Cleveland State at Joe Walton Stadium, 11-6.
• Leading the team in points on the day was midfielder Colton Lidstone. He posted two goals and two assists. In his past two outings against the Vikings, Lidstone has scored four goals and four assists.
• The defense joined the offense against the Vikings, as defensemen James Christoforatos paced for two goals and one helper, and James Leary added a goal and an assist. Both Christoforatos and Leary scooped up four ground balls each.
• Defensively, Liam Blakely caused a team-high three turnovers.
• Fifth-year attacker Taggart Clark registered another three-point game for the Colonials.
• Freshman Rowan Hynes scored his first career goal against Cleveland State, picked up three ground balls and caused one turnover.
• In goal, sophomore goalkeeper Nate Randall tied his career-high in saves with 16.
• Head coach Craig McDonald now owns a 14-9 overall record at RMU, and is 5-2 in conference play.

 
DETROIT MERCY LINKS
- Video
- Live Stats
- RMU Athletics Gameday App

The All-Time Series (Detroit Mercy) – Over the past 14 years, the Colonials have met with the Titans on nine occasions, winning eight times. The first five games were all wins for RMU, and they're currently riding a three-game win streak against Detroit Mercy. All-time, the Colonials are out scoring the Titans 120-74.
 
The last time these two teams played, it was the first time as members of the ASUN conference. Robert Morris won, 12-5 at Detroit on April 2^nd, 2022. In that game, Taggart Clark scored four goals. Face-off specialist Bo Columbus won 16-of-20 face-off's and picked up a team-high 10 ground balls. Defenseman Owen Down had five ground balls and caused one turnover. James Leary also scored one goal, added an assist and registered three ground balls. Back on March 4^th of 2020, Elliot Holden recorded a career game against the Titans, producing five goals, one assist, four ground balls and forcing one turnover. Will Johansen provided one helper and three ground balls and James Leary also scooped up three ground balls and caused two turnovers on defense. Associate Head Coach Adrian Torok-Orban played one game against the opposing program in 2017. He recorded two goals against the Titans during his junior season.
 
Scouting the Titans – So far in the 2023 campaign, Detroit Mercy has yet to record a win with an 0-6 record and 0-2 in conference, but the team features three players in double-digits. Ryan Birney leads the team in goals with 13 and points with 14. Teammate Drew Kessenich also has 14 points with 10 goals and four helpers. Luke Majick is right behind them, as he's produced seven goals and six assists equaling 13 points. Defensively, Noah Martin owns the most ground balls with 18 on the year. In the face-off circle, between Logan Flaherty and Billy Hart, they've won 49-of-139 face-off's (.374 FO%). The two have scooped up 11 ground balls combined. In goal, Jakob Hemme has played most of the minutes, stopping 82 shots and holding a .488 save percentage.
 
As a team, the Titans are averaging 7.83 goals-per-game and allowing 16.67 a game. They've converted 10 out of 33 times on man-up opportunities (.303%). On clear attempts, they've successfully cleared 107-136 times (.787%).
 
ACROSS THE NATION
The Colonials are currently ranked eighth in man-up offense, as they've scored 54.2% of the time on the man advantage. They're first in this category in the ASUN. Sophomore attacker David Burr is sixth in the country in man-up goals with four. He's number one in the ASUN.
 
On defense, RMU is 17^th in Division 1 in scoring defense, only giving up 10.14 goals-per-game. A big part of this is Nate Randall between the pipes. Out of all goalies in the country, Randall is 14^th in save percentage (.545), and 17^th in goals-allowed-per-game (10.09). He ranks second in both of these categories in the ASUN. The Colonials netminder was also tabbed the "Brick Wall Award" by Lacrosse Reference for his 16-save performance against Cleveland State this past weekend.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
Two players are close to reaching impressive milestones. Taggart Clark sits with 96 points headed into next game, making him four away from the century mark. Nate Randall has 196 saves in his career. With four more he'll be the fourth goalkeeper in program history to eclipse 200 saves.

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