Moon Township, Pa. – In an ASUN contest, RMU lost against Utah, 26-16. RMU men's lacrosse is now 4-6 overall and 1-4 in conference play. The Utes move to 6-4 overall and 5-0 in ASUN action.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU got off on the right foot taking the first goal of the game. It would be #9
Ben Starkey scoring his ninth goal of the season. Trading off opportunities, both teams scored four goals each in the first period, until Utah scored their fifth of the game with a minute remaining. The Colonials NLL Draft Picks produced in the first quarter as
Taggart Clark scored two and
Will Johansen added another. After 15 minutes, the Utes led 5-4. With back and forth action, neither team got ahead by more than one goal.
The second quarter featured the highest scoring quarter for the Colonials this season, as both teams knotted in seven each. Six minutes into the second period, Utah pushed forward to a 9-6 lead. Head coach
Craig McDonald and his staff called a timeout to make some adjustments. Climbing their way back, by the end of halftime, RMU scored five more times. Fifth-year midfielder
Will Johansen scored the first two goals in the quarter, completing his hat trick.
Kean Moon,
Liam Keane and
Colton Lidstone all scored to bring the score back to 12-9. And, with three minutes remaining,
Elliot Holden put the team on his back scoring two quick goals, 23 seconds apart, to make the score 12-11 in favor of the Utes at half.
Joining the offensive rush once again, defenseman
James Christoforatos sniped in his fourth of the year to tie up the game. Six minutes later, Utah pulled ahead 16-14. Following that, the Utes went on an 8-0 run to secure the victory.
Matt Duncan and
Connor Boss got two past Utah and the Utes added two more before the final whistle. In the end, Utah remained undefeated in conference play, beating the Colonials 26-16.
QUADS
For the second time this season and second time in his career, fifth-year midfielder
Colton Lidstone produced four points in a game. The future NLL player for Panther City dished out three assists and scored once against the Utes. Back in March, Lidstone scored two goals and two assists in an 11-6 vs. Cleveland State (3/25).
FIRST HATTY
In today's game,
Will Johansen registered his first career hat trick. Mainly a playmaker for the Colonials, Johansen scored three times on three shots. In his career, he's put up performances of three or more points on four occasions, including twice in the 2022 campaign and twice this season.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
For the first time this season, RMU played all three goalkeepers against Utah. Starting the game for a second time in a row was junior
Kyle Reihner. The transfer from Mount Union made five saves and caused one turnover, chasing down a pass outside of the goalie circle.
Nate Randall stepped in and made seven saves against the Utes, and senior
Liam Rosenthal earned his first minutes of the season. Rosenthal made eight saves in his 10 minutes of gameplay. Utah also played all three of their goalies against the Colonials. Connor Hollison made four saves and was awarded the win. Overall, RMU's goalies made 20 saves total and Utah's stopped 11 shots.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
As a team, RMU was successful on their clears, 20-out-of-24 attempts. The Colonials were only on the powerplay one time. They took advantage of the extra-man opportunity, and
Elliot Holden scored with an assist by
Colton Lidstone. Defensively, RMU was a man-down on five occasions, but held Utah off the scoresheet on three of those possessions. Leading the team in ground balls was
Matt Duncan and
Steven DelleMonache. Duncan scooped up five and also scored one goal and one assist. Overall, 12 members of the team recorded a point and five players caused a turnover on the Utes.
UP NEXT
RMU will be back at the Joe Walton Stadium this Wednesday on April 12
th at 4:00 p.m. They'll take on Bellarmine on Faculty & Staff Appreciation Day.
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