WASHINGTON, D.C. — The RMU men’s lacrosse team (0-1) will be playing the No.17 ranked Georgetown University Hoyas (1-0) for only the third time in program history and will be looking to rebound from a season-opening loss against No. 4 Penn State University. The first game ever in 2017 against Georgetown was a 12-7 loss and the second game in 2018 was a close 12-11 loss.
Recapping RMU
In what seemed to be a destined uprising for RMU men’s lacrosse towards making another run to the NCAA tournament turned into the complete opposite of that in the Colonials’ opener when they dropped the season-opening decision by the score of 27-10 to the Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0) this past Saturday in University Park. After only playing one game so far in the young 2019 season, Robert Morris is currently tied with Bryant, Mount St. Mary’s and Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference basement. Each team in the NEC is currently trying to settle into their seasons to try to pace themselves in the respective conference.
Looking at RMU’s game against the Nittany Lions last Saturday, Tyson Gibson was headlining the Colonials offense in the loss with three goals, one of them being a man-up goal, with two assists, five points and six shots. As for Robert Morris as a whole team, most of the results in statistical categories were mostly identical to each other. RMU took 50 shots while Penn State had 51 shots. Besides the score, the shots-on-goal were the only real noticeable difference between the two teams. Robert Morris picked up 27 shots-on-goal while Penn State picked up 41. While similar in outcome, Penn State held the edge in saves against Robert Morris with 17 while the Colonials had 14 saves in the entire game.
Scouting opponents
Georgetown is coming off a 13-10 win over the Sacred Heart University Pioneers (0-1) and will be looking to build off their success from their 2018 season, in which the Hoyas had a 12-5 overall record and a 3-2 record in Big East Conference play.
In their most recent game against the Pioneers, Georgetown was able to score 10 goals that had assists attached to them and three goals that were unassisted. They also had 41 shots (22 shots on goal) compared to Sacred Heart’s 48 shots (26 shots on goal). The Hoyas also had to secure more saves than Sacred Heart. Georgetown had to make 16 saves compared to SHU’s nine saves. While Sacred Heart did hold an edge in shots, shots on goal and saves, the Hoyas were able to limit themselves in turnovers, causing 19 turnovers for themselves and 22 for Sacred Heart.
Given Georgetown’s success in the 2018 season, this is only just a small step in what could possibly be something bigger later on in the season for the Hoyas. The Hoyas could turn out to be a problem for Robert Morris if they were to ever meet again in the NCAA tournament if RMU and Georgetown manage to get that far.
Players to watch
1. Tyson Gibson (Robert Morris): For his headlining performance against the Nittany Lions, Gibson was recently named the NEC Prime Performer of the week for week 1 and was named the male student-athlete of the week as well. Gibson’s 2019 season is still taking shape, but one game doesn’t usually decipher one’s season properly. Gibson’s 2018 season was a stellar one after he delivered 22 goals, 24 assists, 46 points, 69 shots and 38 shots on goal. With those numbers, expect Gibson to deliver another strong performance against the Georgetown Hoyas.
2. Matt Schmidt (Robert Morris): Schmidt is another dynamic force for the men’s lacrosse team this year. In the game against Penn State, Schmidt had two goals, two points and nine shots. In the 2018 season, Schmidt had 36 goals (he was the team leader in goals made), 15 assists, 51 points, 94 shots and 64 shots on goal for the Colonials. While his performance against the Nittany Lions was underwhelming (given it was the season opener), one game does not depict one’s season, so expect Schmidt to be on the rise with another season of delivering strong numbers for the Colonials as well.
3. Jake Carraway (Georgetown): Carraway was the Hoyas’ top performer in goals in 2018 where he put up 44 goals, 20 assists, 64 points, 127 shots and 81 shots on goal. In Georgetown’s recent game against the Pioneers, Carraway had three goals, two assists, five points and 12 shots. As someone who is a top performer for the Georgetown University Hoyas, Carraway is not one to be messed with when RMU faces Georgetown on Saturday.
4. Daniel Bucaro (Georgetown): Carraway’s partner-in-crime is Daniel Bucaro. Bucaro is the second top performer of the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team. Bucaro had 34 points scored with 21 assists for 55 points in his 20 season. Bucaro also had 108 shots for the year and 62 shots on goal as well. When RMU prepares to see a possible duo of Carraway and Bucaro vs. Gibson and Schmidt, Robert Morris will have a problem to deal with in their upcoming game.
Prediction
I predict the game to be a close win for Robert Morris. For the final score, I predict the score to be 15-13. The reason for this is because the differences between the two teams have been closer than ever since Robert Morris started playing Georgetown in the 2017 season. The scores, as mentioned previously, were 12-7 and 12-11, both in favor of the Hoyas, so it stands the reason that Robert Morris will take another jump forward to possibly get their first-ever win against the Georgetown University Hoyas.
