Penn State Falls to Robert Morris

Story posted February 24, 2018 in CommRadio, Sports by Jerome Taylor

The No. 16 Penn State Men’s lacrosse team loss to the Robert Morris Colonials 12-9 on Saturday, in the last game of their four-game home stand to start the season.

After back-to-back 15-8 victories over Hobart and Stony Brook respectively the Nittany Lions (2-2) were hoping to keep the momentum going against the Colonials (2-2) who were coming off a 12-11 loss to Georgetown.

In the first quarter the two teams traded scores, Junior, Matt Donnelly started the scoring for Penn State after Junior, Kevin Hill found him on a crease. Junior, Eddie Smith scored the equalizer for the Colonials at the 7:27 mark, only for Penn State junior defenseman, Chris Sabia to put Penn State back in front 20 seconds later.

By the end of the quarter, the two teams would trade goals once more and Penn State took a 3-2 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

To start the second quarter Penn State picked up where they left off and scored two quick goals to put them up 5-2. But, everything Penn State did in this game the Colonials had a response, as they went on a three-goal run of their own tying the game at 5 at the 1:38 mark in the second.

After senior captain Ryan Keenan stopped the Colonials run late in the half it looked like the Nittany Lions would take a one-point advantage into halftime. But, sophomore, Ryan Smith scored a goal with 0.8 seconds left, to knot things up at 6 to end the half.

Only one goal was scored in the third quarter, and that was by Donnelly. However, during the quarter, Colonial’s junior goalie, Alex Heger got comfortable in net, after two big saves when the Nittany Lions were man-up.

The fourth quarter is where the Colonials took control of the game, behind the play of Heger and redshirt junior, Jimmy Perkins. Perkins led the charge on the offensive end for the Colonials in the fourth quarter scoring two of his three goals during their pivotal four-goal run (He also assisted on a goal in the quarter). Heger got 4 of his 11 saves in the final frame to help his team secure the victory.

Captain, Ryan Keenan was disappointed in the way the offense looked Saturday, “We didn’t choose the right shots,” Keenan said, “ The ball wasn’t moving, sticking in one guy’s stick too much, a bad offensive game for us.”

“I think we lacked confidence offensively, today,” Coach Jeff Tambroni added, “we got to do a better job of just collaborating offensively.”

Penn State’s lack of continuity on offense resulted in 21 turnovers (including nine unforced turnovers) and was the primary cause of the team’s loss Saturday

The Nittany Lions will hope to bounce back against the Penn Quakers on Saturday in the first of four straight on the road.

 

Jerome Taylor is a junior majoring in Broadcast Journalism. He can be reached at jerometaylor91697@gmail.com.