Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris men's lacrosse team lost their first game of the 2023 campaign, Saturday, against Hobart, 14-12. The Colonials are now 3-1, and the Statesmen are 3-2.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Five minutes into the first quarter, Hobart jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. On the Colonials first two attempts they successfully cleared into Hobart's defensive zone. Fighting back, RMU prevailed to bring the score close. The 2022 ASUN Championship golden goal scorer,
Elliot Holden, sniped in a shot to get RMU on the board. Moments later
Liam Keane almost scored to tie the game up, after rifling a shot off the post. Following another goal scored by Hobart, fifth-year defenseman
James Christoforatos jumped into the play and put in a point, assisted by senior
Ben Starkey. After 15 minutes of play, the Colonials were down 5-2.
About nine minutes into the second quarter, the Statesmen continued to produce, registering three more goals to make the score, 8-2. A media timeout helped the Colonials regroup. With more gas left in the tank, RMU cleared into the offensive zone and began a comeback. Within a five-minute period before the first half was over, four different Colonials scored four unanswered goals to bring the score within two, 8-6.
Elliot Holden,
Taggart Clark,
Liam Keane, and
David Burr all scored in order.
Headed into the second half, Hobart added to their score making it 9-6. With their feet on the gas, RMU posted four shots all in one offensive sequence. Finally,
Elliot Holden earned his hat trick and the Colonials brought it back 9-7. Two minutes went by, and junior
Eric Swagerty put one home. The Colonials entered the fourth quarter down 10-8.
In the fourth quarter, both teams scored four goals each. On two occasions, RMU was within one. At the end of the game, Hobart dealt RMU their first loss of the season and pulled away winning, 14-12.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
For the third consecutive game,
David Burr posted three goals or more for the Colonials. The sophomore transfer from Rutgers University now leads the team in goals with 10. Senior
Elliot Holden knotted his first hat trick of his career. Junior
Liam Keane also had a career-day, producing his first four-point game. He scored a goal and dished out three assists. Virginia native
Eric Swagerty put up another two-point game. The junior is averaging a goal and an assist in four games for RMU. Defensively, captain
James Leary caused two turnovers against Hobart, and sophomore
Zach Seppi on face-off's scooped up the most ground balls with seven. In net, sophomore
Nate Randall played all 60 minutes and made seven saves.
As a team, RMU recorded 21 shots on goal, as did Hobart. The Statesmen in total had 45 shots compared to the Colonials 39. The home side was more efficient in possession, as they only gave up nine turnovers and Hobart had 13. Giving up seven man-up opportunities was a major difference, as Hobart scored twice on the man advantage.
MOMENTUM SHIFT
Although the Colonials lost, through four games in the 2023 campaign, RMU has scored four or more unanswered goals on five different occasions. Against Bucknell, the squad scored five in a row twice, winning 12-9 (2/11). In the home opener vs. St. Bonaventure, the Colonials scored six in a row in the first half, and went on to win 15-6 (2/21). And, against Canisius, RMU picked up five in a row in the third quarter. Today, against the Statesmen, the Colonials were down 8-2, but got four back in a row.
SERIES UPDATE
This was the 12
th time in team history these programs faced off. All-time, RMU is now 5-7 vs. the Statesmen. Their three-game win streak ends against the squad from Buffalo. Dropping a loss by two today, the Colonials won their past three against the Statesmen by one goal, including two games in OT and a famous victory, beating the other side in the 2019 NEC Championship game in Emmitsburg, Md., 11-10.
UP NEXT
Next week, the Colonials head down south to North Carolina, to take on High Point University in their last non-conference game of the season, on Saturday, March 11
th at 12:00 p.m.
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