Robert Morris men’s lacrosse outlasts Bellarmine, moves to 2-0 in ASUN play
Corson Kealey looks to make a move against a Bellarmine player. Photo credit: Ethan Morrison
April 9, 2022
MOON TOWNSHIP– Robert Morris men’s lacrosse is getting settled into ASUN play. Coming off of a dominant first game of conference play, the Colonials (6-4, 2-0 ASUN) looked to continue their success against Bellarmine (3-10, 1-1).
They succeeded in that goal, defeating the Knights by a score of 12-9.
The game started with punches from both teams. Robert Morris’ Jake Boudreau scored 33 seconds into the ballgame, and Bellarmine tallied the next three goals and build a two-goal lead which is as far as they’d pull away.
Taggart Clark and Corson Kealey, the team’s top two goal scorers, would do what they do best and make the game tied after the first quarter.
Taggart Clark spoke about his recent success and playing with Kealey and Taddeo.
“I think it’s working with [Dan Taddeo] and [Corson Kealey] down at attack. They’re constantly cutting and constantly flashing and they’re finding me all day long,” Clark said. “Honestly, it makes my life pretty easy which has been nice.”
In the second quarter, Bellarmine and Taggart Clark would trade goals before the Knights’ Braydon Brown, who, like Clark, tallied a hat-trick in the first half, gave the Knights a lead that they’d extend to as far as two goals before a goal with only four seconds remaining in the half by Dan Taddeo.
Coach Craig McDonald spoke about the team’s resiliency.
“When you see adversity and guys stick together and stay with the plan, I think that says a lot about the team,” he said. “The work we put in and how much they care about each other and be able to be resilient like that.”
In the third quarter, each team would trade blows once again as Kealey and Owen Down answered back for the Colonials. This was Down’s first colligate goal.
The Colonials finally caught up to the Knights as Ben “Extra Sharp” Starkey shot the ball off of a Bellarmine defender and into the net to tie the game with 1:26 left in the third quarter.
Taggart Clark spoke about the excitement going into the final 15 minutes.
“Those are the reasons you play. Good gritty games like that. Tied going into the fourth, what more can you ask for?”
The Colonials came together and completely shut down the Knights keeping them off the scoreboard. Will Johansen, Clark and Taddeo would seal the deal for the Colonials, putting them up by a game-high three-goal lead.
Coach McDonald spoke about his team’s fourth-quarter performance.
“It’s a game of runs, you can go on runs and you can stop teams from going on runs, and our defense did a really good job of locking it up in the fourth quarter there, and we scored some really timely goals.”
The Colonials now move to 2-0 in conference play. Coach McDonald spoke about the importance of conference wins.
“Any time you can get a conference win you’ll take it,” Coach McDonald said. “We were up against it a little bit, and we hung in there, we stayed together. It’s a great team win for us.”
Up next for the Colonials is a matchup in Utah where former Colonials coach Andrew McMinn and the Utes await. This will be a highly emotional matchup for the Colonials.
