Robert Morris Stuns Penn State 12-11 in 2OT
from press release
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The Robert Morris University
men’s lacrosse team, under the direction of fifth-year head
coach Bear Davis, put on a spectacular showing on Saturday
afternoon in their home opener at Joe Walton Stadium, topping the
Penn State Nittany Lions 12-11 in an overtime thriller. Leading the
way for Robert Morris was sophomore Corbyn Tao-Brambleby
(Coquitlam, B.C. / Western Reserve Academy), who registered a
hat-trick and three assists for six points, including the
game-winner in overtime.
Junior Patrick Smith (Westminster, Md. / Westminster) also captured
a hat-trick in the win and dished out one helper for four points,
while sophomore Trevor Moore (Port Coquitlam, B.C. / Western
Reserve Academy) added one goal and three assist for a four point
game. Sophomore Keith Lee (Hudson, Ohio / Western Reserve Academy)
and Senior Dan Kerch (Chesterfield, Mo. / DeSmet) contributed a
goal and an assist for two points each. Senior Brandon Johnson
(Finksburg, Md. / Westminster), sophomore Rob Marasti (Pittsburgh,
Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) and freshmen Kyle Buchanan (Nepean, Ontario /
John McCrae) and Dave Morton (Orangeville, Ontario / Hill School)
recorded one point each in the win.
For the Nittany Lions Chris Hogan led the way with four goals,
while Rob Forster added three goals. Jack Forster led the team in
assists with three and also added a goal for four points. Matthew
Mackrides captured two goals and Brian Shea and Billy Lloyd each
recorded one point each.
Moore got the first point on the scoreboard at 13:01 in the first
period on an unassisted play and the Colonials followed it with two
more goals to earn a three goal cushion. With 28 seconds left in
the first quarter Penn State made in indent in RMU’s lead
with a goal by R. Forster. The two teams entered the second quarter
with RMU Leading 3-1.
The Colonials started off the second quarter just as strong as the
first recording a trio of goals within three minutes, with the
first coming at 12:31. Tao-Brambleby added the assists on two of
the three goals, giving him three helpers in the first half.
Penn State was finally able to get the ball past a resilient RMU
goalkeeper, junior Sal Barcia (West, Islip, N.Y. / West Islip),
with 9:50 left on the clock. The Nittany added two more goals to
their collection before the start of the half, which made the score
6-4 going into the third quarter.
At the end of the first half Barcia collected five saves, while
Nittany Lion netminder Drew Adams held off three shots.
The third quarter started with four goals by Penn State to take
over the lead, 8-6. However, Robert Morris was able to bounce back
with 3:22 left in the quarter when Smith found the net for his
second goal of the day. Tao-Brambleby knotted the game 8-8 with a
man-up goal with 2:15 left in the third.
Penn State was able to take over the lead for the second time when
Mackrides scored with only 54 seconds left in the period to make
the score 9-8 going into the fourth.
The Nittany Lions added to their lead in the fourth quarter when
Hogan captured his third goal of the game off an assist from J.
Forster. Penn State added two more goals in less than two minutes
to change the scoreboard to 11-9.
Tao-Brambleby was able to cut into the lead at 10:49 when he scored
his second goal off an assist from Moore and with less than six
minutes left in the game Smith recorded the final goal of his
hat-trick to knot the game 11-11 at the end of regulation.
In the second stanza of overtime Tao-Brambleby came to the rescue
again and was able to get the ball past Adams to the win the
game.
Barcia finished the game with 13 saves to Adams 11 saves. Robert
Morris was one-of -three on extra-man opportunities, while Penn
State was two-for-seven.
Lee and senior T.J. Sarnese (Horsham, Pa. / Hatboro-Horsham) led the Colonials with four ground balls, while Tao-Brambleby added three. For the Nittany Lions, Ryan McAleenan was the team leader for ground balls with four. As a team, Robert Morris captured 20 ground balls to Penn State’s 16. However, Penn State led in face-offs going 14 for 22, while RMU was 8 for 22.
The Colonials return to action on Sat. Feb. 21 to take on Bellarmine at home in a 1:00 p.m. contest
