MOON TOWNSHIP– It was a super Saturday for the Robert Morris men’s lacrosse team (7-7, 4-2 NEC) as they defeated Hobart (10-4, 4-2 NEC) to clinch a spot in the NEC Tournament. The overtime thriller saw the Colonials take down their conference foe in overtime by a score of 16-15. Here is how the action played out.

Robert Morris entered this game with a five-game winning streak, and they looked to make it six as they took the field earlier today. The Colonials came out firing as Ryan Smith and Matt Schmidt netted two goals in order to give RMU a 2-0 lead.

The two teams then began trading goals, with neither side managing to build a solid lead. Robert Morris kept the Statesmen behind them, as the first quarter ended with the Colonials ahead 4-3.

Unfortunately for the Colonials, Hobart scored twice in the early stages of the second quarter. The goals came from Ryan Archer and Jason Knox, who put the Statesmen ahead 5-4.

That lead was also short-lived as Trey Arnold put one in the back of the net for the Colonials to tie the contest at 5-5. Much like the first quarter, the remainder of the second featured both sides scoring a goal only to be countered by a goal from the opposition. Eric Holden’s goal for Hobart came with six seconds left in the half and sent the two sides into the break all square at 8-8.

In the second half, Hobart came out looking to prove why they were tied with Mount St. Mary’s for a share of the conference lead. They did just that by scoring three times in a row to build a lead of 11-8 over RMU. Jason Knox proved to be a threat once again, as two of those goals came from his stick.

Much like the narrative of the day thus far, the Colonials fought back and refused to crack under the pressure of Hobart’s run. Tyson Gibson, Brad McCulley, and Ryan Smith all scored for Robert Morris and tied things up once again.

Despite both the back and forth play all day long, it was a stretch of four straight goals by the Statesmen that seemed to finally silence the Colonials. Hobart scored four straight to close out the third quarter and give themselves a comfortable 15-11 advantage over Robert Morris. It seemed as if RMU finally ran out of gas after their five-game win streak and the constant battling back in this game against one of the best teams in the NEC.

Corson Kealey, a name that has become synonymous with RMU men’s lacrosse, scored a goal with 10:25 remaining in the final quarter. Around a minute later, Jake Boudreau netted a goal of his own, putting the Colonials down by only two goals.

Ryan Smith and Matt Schmidt, the Colonials that scored the game’s first two goals, scored the last two goals of regulation as well. Smith scored with less than a minute to play in the final quarter and sent the game into overtime.

Robert Morris scored four straight goals in order to force overtime, they also did not allow Hobart to score in the final frame. The all-around team effort gave RMU a chance to win the game in overtime. RMU did just that and capitalized on that chance as Matt Schmidt scored in overtime to lift RMU over Hobart by a final score of 16-15 in an absolute thriller.

Robert Morris had six turnovers in this game compared to 14 for Hobart. They also outshot the Statesmen 49-39, with 34 of their shot attempts being on goal. Ryan Smith led RMU with four goals. Matt Schmidt had a hat-trick, one of the goals was also the game-winner. Alex Heger made nine saves on the day.

RMU is now the four seed in the NEC Tournament. They will take on Mount Saint Mary’s (9-6, 5-1 NEC) on Thursday, May 2nd.