HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — In year one of the Craig McDonald era, Robert Morris men’s lacrosse has made significant strides in a short amount of time, and now they are preparing for an Atlantic Sun Conference championship contest with Utah.

While the Colonials were expected to be a top three team in the newly formed conference, Robert Morris had plenty of holes to fill from last season.

Taggart Clark and Corson Kealey have risen to become consistent and potent goal scorers for the Colonials. Jake Boudreau has been a tremendous all-around player, earning him the honor of Midfielder of the Year. Owen Down and James Leary have been stout defenders and the tandem of Freshman Nate Randall and graduate Senior Ben Savick have been solid in the cage.

All of these players, among others, have factored into the Colonials’ 4-1 ASUN record. The Colonials also finished off the season winning their last six of seven games.

However, the one loss that came during that stretch was against Utah. It was an emotional trip for the Colonials as they traveled to Salt Lake City to take on their former head coach, Andrew McMinn. In the April 16 matchup, the Colonials got knocked around by a superior Utes team, losing 18-8. It was a game full of mistakes for Robert Morris, and any time the Colonials attempted to comeback, Utah was one step ahead.

Utah closed the season with an unblemished 5-0 ASUN record. From time to time, the Utes also flirted with a top-20 ranking in the nation.

In their semifinal matchup against Bellarmine, Utah was taken by surprise as the Knights would not go downlightly. At the 8:13 mark of the fourth quarter, the Knights held a two-goal lead, but shorty there after Utah evened the game up, forcing overtime. The Utes eventually prevailed when Jordan Hyed scored for Utah, giving them a 12-11 victory.

As for the Colonials, they played in another tightly contested game against Air Force. The previous two matchups against the Falcons dating back to last year, the Colonials won by one-goal. In the semifinal tilt, RMU snuck by Air Force with a 9-7 win.

Clark and Kealey were held scoreless, but Dan Taddeo, Jake Boudreau and Eric Swaggerty stepped up and scored two goals each. Randall and Savick once again split time to secure the victory for RMU.

Round two between RMU and Utah will be another electrifying game. Utah is a terrific all-around team that can limit another team’s scoring opportunities and can create turnovers. Robert Morris certainly has the weapons to stay in stride with the Utes, but they need tolimit unforced turnovers.

The Colonials have the opportunity to knock off the top team in the ASUN Conference and it would be a gut punch to Utah if they could. A team that has rode on their high horse all season will have one more opponent in the way, one that will look for a major upset.

Utah and Robert Morris are set to face off at 2:00 p.m. ET.