McClutcheon Clutch, Towson Tops Robert Morris in CAA Opener
from press release
TOWSON, Md. - Senior attackman Bill McCutcheon (Chatham H.S./Chatham, N.J.) scored four goals, including the eventual game-winner early in the fourth quarter, as Towson University (2-4, 1-0) snapped a three-game losing streak to earn its first Colonial Athletic Association win of the season, an 11-9 victory over Robert Morris University (7-3, 0-1) at the Tigers' Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
McCutcheon, who has scored nine of his 13 goals in the Tigers' two wins this year, scored two of his goals in the fourth quarter as Towson defeated Robert Morris for the fourth straight game.
"The hardest thing to do is stop losing and we had lost three in a row," Towson Coach Tony Seaman said. "We got a win under our belt. I thought our defense played well all day today especially in settled situations.
"We had been concerned that we came in with three straight losses and that Robert Morris had come in with a 7-2 record and had beaten Penn State, so they were probably feeling good about their progress," Seaman added.
The Colonials took a quick 2-0 lead in the first four minutes of the opening quarter on goals by sophomore attackmanTrevor Moore (Western Reserve Academy/Port Coquitlam, B.C., Canada) and freshman midfielder Kyle Buchanan (John McCrae H.S./Nepean, Ontario).
But, McCutcheon and senior midfielder Randall Cooper (Friends School/Phoenix, Md.) answered by scoring back-to-back goals to tie the game at 2-2.
After sophomore attackman Corbyn TaoBrambleby (Western Reserve Academy/Coquitlam, B.C., Canada) scored to give the Colonials a 3-2 edge, the Tigers took a 4-3 lead with consecutive goals from sophomore midfielder Peter Mezzanotte(West Islip H.S./West Islip, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Will Harrington (Friends School/Baltimore, Md.).
Moore tied the game at 4-4 just over a minute into the second quarter, scoring his 20th goal of the season off an assist from junior attackman Patrick Smith (Westminster H.S./Westminster, Md.). However, the Tigers countered by scoring four straight goals, including an extra-man goal from junior midfielder Pat Britton (Seneca Valley H.S./Germantown, Md.), to take an 8-4 lead with 7:42 left in the third quarter.
The teams exchanged goals before Moore and TaoBrambleby converted passes from Smith to close the margin to 9-7 with 12:03 remaining in regulation. But, McCutcheon ended any hopes of a Robert Morris comeback by scoring a pair of goals, upping the Tigers' lead to 11-7.
The Colonials scored two goals in a 39-second span to narrow the gap to 11-9 but Robert Morris was unable to get any closer.
While McCutcheon led the Tigers with his second "hat trick" of the season, Cooper added two goals with two assists. Junior goalkeeper Rob Wheeler (Friends School/Baltimore, Md.) made seven saves in the victory for the Tigers, who outshot Robert Morris by a 34-28 margin.
"We came out and got on track in the CAA," McCutcheon said. "We came out and set the tone early and was able to walk out of the stadium with a win today.
"We have a phenomenal bunch of young guys and they take constructive criticism very well," he added. "The older guys have just been trying to take them under our wings and help them out in practice and help them to get in the position to make plays."
Senior midfielder Mitchell Rosensweig (Pikesville H.S./Baltimore, Md.) won a career-high 17 of 24 face-off attempts while adding four ground balls.
Moore scored four goals in the loss for Robert Morris while TaoBrambleby added two goals with an assist.
The Tigers begin a three-game road trip on Tuesday night when they travel to Bucknell University for a 7:30 p.m. non-conference game against the Bison. The game will be broadcast in the Baltimore area on WTMD-FM 89.7 with Spiro Morekasand Greg LaCour providing the call.
