On a cold snowy January day, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Robert Morris University Colonials football team announced that quarterback Caleb Lewis will be transferring from Louisiana State University to Robert Morris University. Whenever you transfer to a new school and a new city, things can be scary. Fortunately for Caleb Lewis, there was a familiar face in the locker room who helped him with that transition and that is Colonials head coach, Coach Bernard Clark. Coach Clark and Lewis go way back to Lewis’ high school career. “Me and Coach Clark have a really good relationship that goes back to high school”, Said Lewis. “He did my home visit back in my senior year, he’s known me since my junior year of high school, he’s from a really close area that I went to high school from so I’ve known him for a while”. Lewis brings leadership to the team and has lots of goals and knows how to achieve them. “I’m a very intellectual quarterback”, Lewis said. “I make very good decisions and I take care of the ball. I also pride myself on being a leader of creating a culture of very, very high level goals and the work ethic to prepare to reach those goals.And a passion for the game”. Lewis and the Colonials aren’t shy about what they want to achieve and they want to win the NEC and get to playoffs like any sports team but there are some things Coach Clark stresses to his players. “We’re not shy about it. We want to win the NEC and make playoffs”, Said Lewis. “That’s the reason you play the game, to make playoffs and games. That’s one thing Coach Clark harps on is that you have to take it one day at a time, one play at a time and one game at a time and think about it in one week chunks. Thinking about practice and being here now in the moment and taking care of what you can take care of and the results will follow”. The transition from LSU to RMU has been an interesting one for Lewis. There are a few things he’s still adjusting to and the weather is number one. And football is football no matter the weather or the town you play in. “It’s very cold, not going to lie and trying to play in that kinda took me a little longer than I thought”, He said jokingly. “I’m not used to the snow and I don’t think I ever will be, being from Florida and then living in Louisiana. Football is still football. The field is still 120 by 53 ⅓ and you still got 11 on 11 so you can try to create differences but you still have your teammates, you still have your band of brothers that you go to war with. It doesn’t change all that much”. Another thing Lewis had to get used to are the minor changes in passing. “Like I’ve said before, it’s still football and a lot of things are doing what you’re coached to do and executing” Lewis said. “In offense, a little bit different scheme in the passing game. I went from an area read to a full field progression scheme. Luckily for Lewis, the changes in coaches isn’t a big transition since both Coach Canada for LSU and Coach Clark have many similarities. “They both have a ton of passion for the game”, said Lewis. “They’re also very big on discipline. Their day one meeting for both of them for the offense was ‘take care of all the non-talent issues. We’re going to be tough and we’re working hard, we’re giving maximum effort, we’re going to learn our technique, we’re going to line up right, we’re going to do all those things that don’t take any talent, we’re going to do those right and those are going to help us become a very good team, a great team”. Like any athlete, Lewis has some interesting pre game rituals. He makes up a new ritual each season. “I have very specific playlist that I make each season and I’m not really sure what I’m going to put on it for this year and I also don’t know what I’m going to do because we have turf on our home field, but I do a scene from The Gladiator when Maximus does before battle where he takes the dirt and rubs it on his hands and smells it, that’s one of my things I do” Lewis said. “I also pray along the sidelines and I also touch the turf every time I come on the field which are the major things.” Lewis is looking forward to winning with the Colonials during his time at RMU. “I’m excited to win. I’m excited to play ball. I’m excited to win with these guys, I’m really enjoying the team that we have and the guys that are here. Usually the biggest issue when a transfer comes in and whether he’s going to fit in with the team or not and they’ve been so welcoming and just embrace me. We’re having a great time, we really are”.
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Moon, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women’s lacrosse won their first conference game of the season Sunday, as they took down the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers 14-4. The Mountaineers were the first ones to put their name on the board as attacker Carly Miller banged the ball past Colonial goaltender Katelynn Miller at 27:35 of the first half. Seconds later, Colonial midfielder Sophia Eureka tossed the ball on the ground which made its way past Mountaineer goaltender Jillian Petito. The Colonials had a chance to steal the lead as the ball fell behind Mountaineers goaltender Petito but was quickly saved by Petito as she realized the ball was near the goal line. Minutes later, midfielder Melanie Gandy spun the ball around to find an open shot and chucked the ball into the net to put the Colonials in a 2-1 lead. Colonial attacker Shannon Lynch with a great chance to advance lead but hit the top of the goal post. Mount St. Mary’s had a chance to tie the score but was robbed by Colonial goaltender Miller. Midway through the first, Colonial midfielder Sophia Eureka netted her second of the game and put the Colonials in a 3-1 lead. The Mountaineers would follow shortly after making the score 3-2. The Colonials were getting physical towards the end of the first half as the Colonials defense and goaltending was strong by preventing the Mountaineers to score. Midfielder Sophia Eureka continues her scoring streak as she found the back of Mount St. Mary’s net to make it 4-2 and shortly after, midfielder Madison Griffin would follow to make the score 5-2 Colonials at the end of the first half. Attacker Shannon Lynch opened up the second half with a goal at 28:02 to put the Colonials in a 6-3 lead. Four minutes later, midfielder Madison Griffin would follow with a goal to make it 7-2. Mount St. Mary’s responded shortly after the Griffin goal by attacker Carly Miller to put the Mountaineers back on the board, 7-3. The Colonials midfielder Dana Davis found the back of the net once again to make it 8-3. Davis is three goals away from netting her 100th career goal. Colonial attacker and midfielder Clio Kerr netted goals back to back to put the Colonials on top 10-3. Sophia Eureka continued her scoring streak as she tossed the ball past Mountaineer goalie Petito to steal the lead 11-3. Towards the end of the half, Midfielder Dana Davis chucked the ball behind Mountaineer’s goaltender to advance the score 12-3. Davis is now two goals away from 100. Clio Kerr netted her 3rd of the game to make it 13-3 Colonials at 8:23. To end the scoring drought, the Mountaineers attacker Taylor Carhart found the back of the net at 4:46 that put them up 13-4. The Colonials would win 14-4 by the last-minute goal from midfielder Melanie Gandy. Midfielder Sophia Eureka said the team wanted to forget the game on Friday and get back to their normal selves. “We wanted to go in and play like ourselves,” said Eureka. “We had a rough game on Friday. We were a little shaken up from that so we wanted to get back to playing our game.” Eureka scored a hat trick plus one in today’s match and she says she contributes her success to her teammates. “Definitely my teammates,” Eureka said. “I think most of my goals were assisted so I couldn’t have done it without them and everyone on the field.” Not only was the offense playing well, but the defense was better than previous games. Defender Kelly Colegrove said the defense wanted to come out and establish themselves in today’s game. “We only had two goals in the first half and two in the second and scored 8-meters so it was awesome to hold them to that,” said Colegrove. The defense forced the possession clock twice that really helped the defense throughout the game. “It’s really awesome but it kinda sucks when they get a new 90 but I think we held them great for a couple of times and got the ball”, Colegrove said. “We were down two players on defense and we still held them and got the ball back so that was really exciting”. Working together and staying consistent is what the Colonials did well to grab the 14-4 victory. “Everyone played well together,” Eureka said. “We wanted to get back to playing our brand of lacrosse and working together is a big part of that.” The Colonials are away next Friday at Saint Francis University at 4 pm. and then again April 20 at Bryant at 3 pm and April 22 at Central Connecticut at 12 pm. Robert Morris will be back home on April 27 as they host Sacred Heart at 3 pm. Moon, Pa. - The Robert Morris University Colonials women’s lacrosse team had a short weekend as they hosted the Louisville Cardinals Saturday afternoon. The Colonials were able to keep their winning ways intact, and with an intense score of 13-12. In the first half of the game, the Colonials put their names on the board first when midfielder Dana Davis scored her ninth goal of the season at 28:29 to make it 1-0 Colonials. Minutes later, Cardinals midfielder Ally Hall scored on Colonial goalie Katelynn Miller to tie the game at one apiece. From then on, the scoring was back and forth. Colonial attacker Kerri Sayrafe stole the lead to make it 2-1 with her seventh of the season, and followed behind was Cardinal attacker Tessa Chad to once again tie up the game at two. It was once again the Colonials to clear the tie as midfielder Melanie Gandy made it 3-2 Colonials, assisted by Niki Grillon. To keep the ball rolling, Colonial attacker Clio Kerr scored to advance the score of 4-2. Halfway through the first, Cardinal midfielder, Caroline Blalock put the ball past the Colonial net-minder to make it 4-3. Colonial midfielder Davis scored her 10th of the season with 14:09 left in the period to make it 5-3. Seconds later, Cardinals attacker Tessa Chad and midfielder Lexi Cheetham scored seconds after each other to advance the score to 5-4 and then tie the game 5-5. Colonials stole the lead at 10:01 left with a goal scored by Kelley Flynn, her sixth of the season and assisted by Niki Grillon, to make it 6-5. Towards the end of the first half, Cardinals tied the score from midfielder Blalock to make it 6-6. 2:03 remaining, Colonial attacker Shannon Lynch stole the lead as she netted her eighth goal of the season to make it 7-6, assisted by Dana Davis. The second half of the game was scoring from both teams. Opening the period, Colonials continued to steal the lead as Lynch makes it 8-6 with her ninth of the season. Chasing after the lead was Cardinals’ Chad who made it 8-7. Colonials and Cardinals liked playing tag because then Colonial midfielder Sophia Eureka scored her 11th of the season and made it 9-7. Halfway through the second, Cardinal Blalock was continuing to steal the show as she scored on Colonial goalie Miller to make it 9-8 with 17 minutes left. Colonials had a scoring streak going on as Davis scored twice, Sayrafe and Crouse followed her lead to steal the lead and make it 13-8. The Cardinals picked up on the Colonials’ scoring fever as attacker Tessa Chad scored to make it 13-9 and Caroline Blalock ended the game by scoring three more goals to make it 13-12. Despite the Cardinals’ non-stop scoring, they couldn’t get more goals past Colonial net-minder Katelyn Miller and the Colonials won 13-12. The Colonials didn’t play any games since last Sunday, and head coach Katrina Silva noticed a difference in her players. “I think we played with a lot more poise,” said Silva. “We played at a much faster speed. I think everyone contributed. All the cliches you talk about sports where everyone needs to do their little bitty part to make the team go and you really saw it today. We had a lot of players in different spots and people made adjustments and kept playing.” Goaltender Katelynn Miller had a solid game, and she attributes her success in Saturday’s game to her defense. “Our defense all together as a unit,” said Miller. “We played together. When they play well, I play well. And when I play well, they play well; it all correlates, and all together we played really well.” With playing well comes great goal-scoring, and Dana Davis scored four goals in Saturday’s game and netted 12 goals this far, and Kerri Sayrafe and Shannon Lynch picked up their scoring from last season as well. “Dana (Davis) is a beast, you can count on her for anything all over the field,” Miller said. “You also look for those quick feeds into Kerri (Sayrafe) for those quick goals. And Shannon really stepped up this year in looking for those quick goals too.” Dana Davis attributes all her success to her teammates and says she wouldn’t be the player she is without the support of her teammates and coaches. “Honestly, we wouldn’t be where we are and I wouldn’t be the player I am without my team and the people I surround myself with,” says Davis. “I wouldn’t want to be on any other team. This team and coaching staff are an amazing group of women, and it’s awesome to play with them. We each have each other’s backs on and off the field, and I couldn’t ask for anything more than that; it’s an awesome team to be on.” The Colonials are away this Wednesday as they travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face the Ohio State Buckeyes. Game time is at 4 p.m. Moon, Pa. - The Robert Morris University Colonials women’s lacrosse team was home this weekend as they hosted the St. Bonaventure Bonnies at Joe Walton Stadium on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The Colonials snapped their four-game losing streak with an 11-6 victory. During the first half, the St. Bonaventure Bonnies were the first to put their name on the board first with a goal from Rylee Arnold at 27:19. Seconds later, Bonnie midfielder puts the ball past Colonial goalie Katelyn Miller to make it 2-0 St. Bonaventure. The Colonials got into the scoring spirit as attacker Kerri Sayrafe put a point on the board to make it 2-1. Two minutes later, Colonial midfielder Sophia Eureka tied the score to make it 2-2. Another two minutes later, the Colonials stole the lead as midfielder Dana Davis made it 3-2 Robert Morris. The first half of the game, the Colonials didn’t play a physical game but managed to score three goals to end the half 6-5. Goals were scored by attackers Shannon Lynch, Kerri Sayrafe and midfielder Dana Davis. St. Bonaventure stole the show as they played with momentum but only scored three goals in the half as well. Goals were scored by midfielder Kyra O’Gorman, attacker Gabrielle Bradley, and midfielder Rylee Arnold. Rylee Arnold’s goal was scored as the buzzer went off. “We let the refs affect how we played in the first half.” Said RMU head coach Katrina Silva. “Everything was a foul. This is division 1 lacrosse so there’s usually some contact and some legal stick checking and in the first 30 mins, the refs were really having an impact on us and on our mental abilities. We talked about that after the half and said we have to play our lacrosse and need to work a bit harder and move our feet a little faster and I think we made some really nice adjustments and got our confidence with the ball in the second half.” The second half of the game was in favor of the Colonials as they managed to score five goals. The Colonials could have scored more but Bonnies goalie Morgan Conroy played a brick wall for the remainder of the second. Goals were scored by attackers Shannon Lynch (twice in the second) and Kerri Sayrafe, and midfielders Sophia Eureka and Melanie Gandy. Four Colonials scored more than one goal in Sunday’s game. Midfielders Sophia Eureka and Dana Davis scored two and attackers Kerri Sayrafe and Shannon Lynch scored three. The Colonials were comfortable with their game this afternoon which contributed to their success. “I felt very comfortable.” Said attacker Shannon Lynch. “We were coming down from a lot of losses and today we just wanted to come out and have fun and leave with a win and a good mindset.” Coach Silva was very pleased with the Colonials effort today after coming back from a long, 2-game road trip to California. “Excited”, Silva said. “We went to California for two games; that’s a really, really long trip and it felt like all 3,000 miles out there so I thought we played a little flat when we were out there (in California) and couldn’t put together a full 60 minutes and I thought today we started off a little rough but we played a solid 45 minutes which was awesome.” The mood on the field is to have fun and Shannon Lynch said that’s what the team did today. “What we worked on a lot throughout the week is to have fun and play like ourselves”, said Lynch. “We came into this game more relaxed so the game kinda flowed and whatever opportunities were there we took them.” Coach Silva says that there are adjustments to be made but the team is coming along. “ Our midfield transition, working from one end to the other is still going to need some improvement but saw some defenders coming over and shooting the ball today which is exciting so we’re getting there.” The Colonials are back home next Saturday as they host Louisville at 1 pm at Joe Walton Stadium. Moon, Pa. - The Robert Morris University Colonials football team has hired Jacob Bronowski as their newest tight ends coach. The former UNM graduate assistant announced the move to Moon Township in an Instagram post just days ago. Bronowski spent two seasons with the University of New Mexico as an offensive graduate assistant. While at UNM, his duties were to help in-game preparation, going over film, handling stat analysis and on-field coaching for the offensive players. The team posted a combined record of 12-13 during his time with the Lobos but did receive the honor of playing in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl in 2016 as New Mexico defeated the University of Texas-San Antonio 23-20 fending off a late comeback effort from the Roadrunners. The native of College Station, Texas, graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2016. He graduated from A&M High School in 2012. While at A&M, he played quarterback and recorded 1738 total passing yards, 11 passing TDs, 82.2 passing yards, 128 pass completions on 243 pass attempts and 12 interceptions. This will be Bronowski’s second coaching stop in his young career. Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Robert Morris University Colonials hosted the Bentley University Falcons for the AHC semifinals game Friday night. The Colonials won game one with a score of 3-1 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. In the first period, both teams were getting pucks to the net, but both goaltenders denied those chances. A Colonials player had a chance to score on the breakaway but shot the puck wide of Falcons goalie Aidan Pelino. During the second period, both teams got more aggressive, but it wasn’t until Colonials forward Alex Tonge got the Colonials on the board to make it 1-0 and earned his 14th goal of the season with assists from Timmy Moore and Brady Ferguson. “Fergie (Ferguson) made a nice play to Timmy (Moore), and Timmy put it across and was able to skate into it, and the goalie (Pelino) lifted his arm a little bit and snuck it through,” said Tonge on describing his second-period goal. With minutes left in an exciting third period, the Colonials forward Brandon Watt netted his second goal of the season with assists from Moore and Ferguson. Then with a minute left into the third, the Falcons’ player Kyle Schmidt put one past Colonial goalie Francis Marotte to make it 2-1. As if the scoring wasn’t over, Colonial forward Alex Tonge nets an empty netter to give the Colonial’s a 3-1 lead and 1-0 lead in the series. Friday’s game was the way Colonials head coach Derek Schooley expected his team to play. “I thought we were pretty good,” Schooley said. “I really liked our effort as far as our backchecking or shot-blocking. I thought we played with a lot of intensity and we played for 60 minutes.” Even though the Colonials played well tonight, they have small improvements for Saturday’s game and to finish out the series. “We have to limit our neutral zone turnovers,” said Schooley. “We gave up a lot of odd-man rushes to give them (Falcons) some chances, but we have to go out and play and give it another Herculean performance to end a team’s season.” Overall, Schooley has one big takeaway from Friday’s game. “We have to win. We’re up one-nothing. It’s a big takeaway,” Schooley said. Game two of the first-round series will be Saturday evening with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Concussions in high school football are a recurring theme. The effects of concussions on high school athletes are especially evident later in life, as shown by recent studies.
“There’s all sorts of evidence that any concussion is a bad concussion, or is a bad outcome,” said Steve Buist, reporter at the Hamilton Spectator in Canada. “There’s lots of evidence that even a single concussion suffered over a lifetime can lead to changes in the brain.” Buist recently wrote a multi-part series about concussions in former Canadian Football League players. The question that seems to be on the mind of fans, parents and the players – is there any way to prevent concussions in sports like football, hockey, soccer, baseball, volleyball, and other sports? Before that question can be answered, parents, athletes and coaches must first look at what a concussion is and what it does to the brain. “You have to have a head injury and it’s a closed head injury,” said Luann Richardson, associate professor in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Robert Morris University. “So if someone bumped their head and there’s no room for the brain to expand, that’s called a closed head injury. Sometimes the patient will lose consciousness and often some won’t but they will have universal symptoms that could be anywhere from a headache to dizziness to feeling dazed to not feeling they could remember things and having nausea.” There is a scale that doctors look at to diagnose a concussion. The patient can have a minor concussion, in which they feel like they have a head attack or headache that can last 48-72 hours. With more severe concussions, the patient can lose consciousness; nausea and vomiting are common and they need hospital attention. And the concussions in the middle of those two can linger for weeks. “Doctors look at history. They want to know what happened, they also want somebody else outside of the patient telling doctors what happened, as the patient about symptoms and then doctors would perform a physical exam by looking at vital signs and then concentrate on a neurological exam,” said Richardson. Some schools and studies are trying methods to lower the risk of concussions. This can include eliminating tackles, using special helmets and other prevention techniques. Eliminating Tackles According to a study by University Wire, there were 4.1 million youth and high school football players in America. Any hit to the head could result in a long-term concussion. “The problem, as I’ve said repeatedly to people, is that your brain already comes with a helmet. Your brain already comes with a pretty unforgiving helmet,” said Buist. “So, yeah you might be able to cushion some of the blow through whatever type of padding they have, but the fact of the matter is the first thing your brain is going to hit is the inside of a very hard, bony helmet that comes designed to protect the brain.” Eliminating one of the main sources of concussions – tackles – would be a hard shift to make. Taking away tackling would be changing the entire game of football as America knows it. According to Concussions 101, there are almost 67,000 concussions diagnosed in high school football players every year. “Having evidence of absence is absence of evidence” Richardson said. “We have to keep studying it and look at common sense things. Those intentional injuries that sometimes happen in those contact sports should be punitive; we can not allow that to happen. If we’re going to have kids play sports which they should, there is going to be some risk of concussion.” The author of the University Wire study came to the conclusion that eliminating tackling would not reduce concussions. Buist reached the same conclusion because there are accidental concussions that can happen when a person simply trips and falls. Richardson also gave the same sentiments. “I know what’s happening to those athlete’s brains but kids and people need to be active. You have to accept risk in life otherwise I wouldn’t let my child drive to school or go on vacation,” said Richardson. Companies, such as Riddell, are looking at a way to detect concussions quicker to make the game safer for high school students. Chips in Helmets The football helmet company, Riddell, made waves in 2014 when it introduced a helmet that helps detect a concussion during a game or in practice. Riddell calls it Head Impact Telemetry (HIT) system technology. This wireless technology is made possible by iMEMS Motion Signal Processing. When the helmet takes a hit hard enough, a signal is sent to the trainers on the sidelines. This technology gives coaches and training staff a more clear and concise vantage point of what happens inside of helmets of players. HITs illustrate the effects of linear and rotational acceleration as well as duration and location of the severity of the impact to the head. David Forrest, who attends Hoover High School in North Canton, Ohio, plays football for the Vikings varsity football team. This season, his team used the Riddell Speedflex Helmet, which has the InSite Impact Response System technology. Forrest felt that wearing the helmets gave him a sense of being safer while playing. “We had the Riddell Speed Flexes and I felt a lot more comfortable in them,” Forrest said. “They are a much more comfortable helmet. “It obviously helped break impact in hard collisions, which made me feel a lot better knowing that it had a sensor in the helmet and that it could detect a hard hit and help me get evaluated by the trainers, so I’m not putting my life at risk playing.” During a game this season, a signal was sent to the Hoover football training staff after Forrest took a hit to the helmet and he detailed what occurs when the trainers get a signal from the alert system. “When they get an alert, you’ll get brought over to the sideline. The trainer will ask you questions; they’ll take you through protocol, then, if you’re able to resume, they’ll put you back in.” Forrest added that several other players also had to visit the training staff, and in some cases they were not allowed back into that game. Forrest is impressed with the Riddell helmets and remembers the days when football helmets were not as advanced and he is ready to see where these advanced technological football helmets go in the future. “Even with the equipment going back to 8th grade, I remember, the inside of it wasn’t very padded. They didn’t have the technology they have today and then you go to this season and they have a completely different design of the helmet and they have the new technology inside of the helmet. So, obviously, in the near future it is going to keep advancing,” Forrest said. Buist, the Canadian sports journalist, said, “If people are going to play a sport like that and if there is sort of nothing you can do to prevent someone from taking that path then I suppose it’s a good idea to try to mitigate the damage as best as possible.” The question then might be asked – is prevention possible at all? Is Prevention Possible? A clear cut prevention to concussions, especially during games remains unknown, but there are steps coaches and players are taking to limit the amount of concussions suffered to high school football players. One way involves coaches being aware of head injuries to players when the injury didn’t occur in a game. Forrest suffered a non-football concussion this past season, but the alertness and awareness of the coaches and training staff led to Forrest being sidelined for two games. He said the concussion happened on a Friday when he was on his way home from school. “I obviously got checked out by the medics and they said that I could have had a possible concussion,” he said. “So I went in early to the trainer’s office before the game and they took me through the protocol and they said ‘it probably wouldn’t be very safe for you to play tonight.'” He didn’t play in that game. Forrest continued to show signs of a concussion the following week and the coaches took note, sidelining him for another game. “And then the next week, after I kept taking the IMPACT Test ,which is an online test that sees my progress, and obviously it wasn’t improving enough for me to (go) back in.” Forrest was out another week. Finally, “as the next week after that went on, I got better and they told me I was able to play again,” Forrest said. Forrest said it was obvious at his high school that the coaches “are definitely growing more aware” of concussions. Coaches are also limiting the amount of hits players take. “Tackling in practice has obviously been limited greatly,” Forrest noted. “I remember some practices where if were banged up after a game, they’ll just tell us, ‘hey just throw on your helmet,we’re not going to wear pads today, we’re not going to be hitting.'” Buist believes that there may not be a way to change sports that have a risk of concussions. If anything is going to happen, it could be parents. “If anything is going to kill football, it’s going to be moms,” said Buist. “Because over time what you will see happen is that moms will start to say ‘my son is not playing football.’ “And once you start to choke it off at the teenage or high school level, then you lose that sort of feeder system to the colleges.” Richardson agrees. “There are pros and cons of being an athlete. I’m a parent of four kids who were all athletes,” said Richardson. “It’s tough. We’re going to see some parents who are pulling their kids away from football because we’re seeing so many concussions.” Concussions are a major problem, but the answer as to how to prevent them is unknown. Shawn Hytla is a center on the Moon Area Tigers of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League. He started skating and playing hockey when he was four years old, when his father signed him up for “Learn to skate” class and his hockey career took off.
Hytla plays strong and physical but can also score goals. He’s the leading goal scorer with eight this season. “My game has changed over the years with getting faster and my shot has improved,” said Hytla. “My linemates give me the puck when they can and I aim for the net and shoot the puck.” Hytla serves as assistant captain on this team and he knows he has a big responsibility and wants his teammates who follow in his skates. “I have to be a leader for this team,” Hytla said. “I want the team to follow how I play, and having them look up to me is a great feeling.” The Tigers have been in first place of the Varsity Division 2 standings since the beginning of the season, and Hytla credits the coaching staff and the players for working hard every day. He also envisions the team going all the way through championships and winning his third title with the club. Even though Hytla is only a junior, he plans on going to Coastal Carolina University with the possibility of majoring in business. On a recent rainy Wednesday afternoon, I sat down with Moon Area senior defenseman and captain Shane Handlovitch.
Like most kids who play at the high school level, he started playing hockey when he was 6-7 years old. He credits his older brother for introducing him to the sport. Shane is a stay at home defenseman and will rush the puck whenever he has an open spot or lane. But he’d rather throw his weight and block shots. He’s been with the team since his freshman year, and they’ve been great and memorable for him. This season he’s added the title of captain. “Being the captain is a big responsibility,” he said. “You have to get the team motivated before every game, keep everything positive and keep a level head.” Just like any other hockey player from any other team or league, Handlovitch has his pre-game routine. “I warm up on my own for a bit and then we warm up as a team by playing soccer. Get dressed and listen to music in the locker room,” he said. Handlovitch also plays for the Pittsburgh Predators triple A team. His season got off to an unexpected start when he suffered a concussion. He said it was a difficult road but managed to get through with some rest and recovery. “It started out with a lot of rest until I was able to skate again,” he said. “The first time I tried skating, it was bothering my head, so I had to take more time off just to rest. By the end it took me three to four practices just before I got cleared for contact and then another practice or two after getting cleared to come back and play.” Handlovitch is optimistic about the team this season and thinks the Tigers should set their sights high. “I want the team to win the championship this year,” he said. “It’s been something we’ve been looking for every year but got knocked out in the first round; but with this group of guys, we will at least be able to move to the championship round with also a good chance of winning.” Handlovitch is considering playing for the Islanders Hockey Club in Boston or a team in the North American Hockey League to play in Juniors. He’s also considering and speaking with a coach from Kent State University. The Moon Tigers won their sixth straight game, beating the Trinity Hillers Monday night by a score of 6-1.
During the first period, Tigers forward Shawn Hytla opened the period for the Tigers with his eighth of the season; a shot past the left leg of Trinity goalie John Popielarchek at 4:40 of the first period. Half way through the first period, Tiger forward Matt Lowry had a chance to shoot five hole on Popielarchek but was denied. In the second period, the Tigers lit the lamp three times. Forward Zach Wildasin started the scoring with a heavy wrist shot over the shoulder of Popielarchek, assisted by Alex Angevine, to give Moon a 2-0 lead. A few minutes later, Tiger forward Rich Doyle netted his first of the season to make the score 3-0. Logan Zarin wanted to be a part of the scoring series and netted his second of the season, allowing Moon to end the period with a 4-0 advantage. The Tigers outshot the Hillers 22-9 in that period. The third period got a little crazy when a Tiger player took down a Trinity player. Then seconds later, Tiger forward Marc Pelkington was taken down by Hiller forward Tyler Piatt. The referees called a penalty on Piatt for head contact. Parents were not thrilled with the call and things got heated between a Trinity parent and the ref. As a result, two Trinity parents were ejected from the game. After the confrontation was resolved, the play continued. Trinity forward Jacob Snyder put his team on the board with his second goal of the season to make it 4-1. “We didn’t get the puck out of the zone. Snyder has a nice shot.” Said Konecsni about Snyder's goal. “I was screened, and the puck snuck behind me.” The scoring magic wasn’t over for the Tigers. Logan Zarin ripped one past Popielarchek to net his third of the season and second of the night. The score remained 5-1 for the majority of the third until Tiger forward David Pawuk scored a shorthanded goal with a few minutes left to make the final score 6-1. “I saw the puck was getting dumped in and I tried to stay high because there weren’t any attackers, and I was waiting for a clear out, '' Pawuk said about his power play goal. “Luckily, my defenseman saw me and went to the middle of the ice, shot it and it went in.” The Tigers are first in the PIHL varsity D2 division. Assistant coach Dean Ferrari believes the reason for their success is staying simple and keeping momentum. “We keep our game simple, everyone is moving their feet,” said Ferrari. “We have our lapses where we stand around for a bit, but for the most part we keep moving and we are usually first on the puck.” Tiger forward Shawn Hytla is ranked number four for the Division 2 scoring leaders with eight goals and goalie Konecsni is ranked number 1 for leading goalies with a GAA of 1.47. The Tigers are first in the Division with 12 points. They are away Thursday night at Carrick. Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Robert Morris University Colonials ended their game with a 5-5 tie against the Holy Cross Crusaders Friday night. The last time the Colonials played the Crusaders was March 11, 2017, when the Colonials won 3-2 in the AHC Quarterfinals. Goals were scored by Dan Leavens, who scored twice and Brady Ferguson of the Colonials. The Colonials are 10-5-1 overall, 4-2 at home and 6-3-1 on the road from the years of 2010-2017 against the Crusaders. Goaltenders in net were Francis Marotte for Robert Morris and Paul Berrafato for Holy Cross. Both Marotte and Berrafato allowed five goals throughout the game. Marotte made 27 saves and Berrafato made 34. Marotte faced 6 in the first period, 11 in the second, 9 in the third and 1 during overtime. Berrafato faced 14 in the first, 11 in the second, 4 in the third and 5 in overtime. With those numbers, RMU pressured Berrafato in the first and had chances. The two goalies were tied with saves in the second. Both teams weren’t shooting much in the third and RMU was all over Holy Cross in overtime. During the first period, Brady Ferguson netted his fourth goal of the season on a power play. Brady was ranked 45th on the USCHO list of power-play goals and 17th on shorthanded goals going into this game. He makes plays and hit holes but he’s not a nasty, physical player. He has tendencies where he can get there but he’s mostly a delicate and graceful player. The magic started in the second period when both teams were pressuring each other, getting physical and trying to find ways to put the puck in the net. TJ Moore from Holy Cross stole the lead by going top shelf on Marotte to make the score 2-1. When the Crusaders were on the power play, leading goal scorer, Scott Pooley snuck one behind Marotte at 10:23 left in the second to make it 3-1. Colonial left-winger Matthew Graham scored his second of the season and made it 3-2. Right after Graham’s goal, Holy Cross defenseman Frank Boie poked the puck between the net and Marotte’s leg to make the score 4-2. Luke Lynch of the Colonials netted his 6th of the season to play catch up with the Crusaders 4-3. When you are physical, strong and gritty, that’s when the goals are scored and that’s exactly what Lynch did and that’s why he’s been so successful and ranked 14th on the USCHO list of goals. With 16.5 seconds left in the second period, Alex Tonge bets Berrafato and scored his third of the season to tie the game at 4. The opening of the third was a great and memorable one for sophomore Alex Robert who netted his first collegiate goal and first of the season to steal the lead from Holy Cross to make it 5-4. With three minutes left in the third period, Laffin of the Crusaders scored his second goal of the night to tie the game at 5 which would go into overtime. At the end of regulation, heading into overtime, both teams were getting physical and throwing bodies around. Both teams were trying to get goals past each goaltender, but bodies of players were getting in the way and the game ended in a 5-5 tie. “This is a step in the right direction,” Coach Schooley said. “I liked our effort, I liked our energy, I liked our compete level. It’s a step in the right direction offensively, yes, but defensively, you can’t give up five in a game and expect to win. You score five and you should win a hockey game.” The Moon Area Tigers won their second game of the season, 3-1, against the Kennedy Catholic Eagles Monday night.
In the first period, junior forward Zach Wildasin gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season. The scoring magic happened in the second period, when Riley Hilton netted a goal past Tigers goaltender Lukas Konecsni, to tie the score at one a piece. Then at the sound of the buzzer to mark the end of the second period, Tigers sophomore forward David Pawuk banged one past Eagle goaltender Carsen Burkhart. The power play goal gave Moon a 2-1 lead. Halfway through the third period, Konecsni made a perfect glove save on a breakaway, preserving the lead. With only a few seconds remaining in the period, Wildasin scored again with an empty-netter to make it 3-1. Coach Joe Sell was pleased with how his team played despite battling a few injuries and calling up junior varsity players. “We’re kind of shorthanded,” Sell said. “We have one kid who is out with a concussion; one kid out with a broken wrist; and one out with a bad shoulder. “We are happy with the effort. They battled through and we were able to grab the win.” Konecsni made a lot of great saves Monday night, and Sell noticed. “Lukas is our MVP,” Sell said. “The kid faces a lot of shots and lots of high scoring opportunities and he’s always there. He’s level headed, doesn’t get up and doesn’t get down and that’s definitely something you want from your goaltender.” The Tigers travel to Morgantown High School for their next game, on Nov. 2. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Robert Morris Colonials lost their third straight game and their second home-and-home game 3-1 against the Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday night. In the first period, both the Colonials and Buckeyes were getting chances, but the pucks weren’t going in. Colonial left-winger Robert Powers had a fantastic shot at giving the Colonials a 1-0 lead, but the puck hit the crossbar. Colonial right-winger Timmy Moore had a few grade-A chances, but Buckeye goalie Sean Romeo wasn’t allowing any pucks behind him. The first period might have been the Colonials’ period, but the Buckeyes came back and battled hard in the second period. Ohio State had many opportunities to score but Colonials goalie Andrew Pikul showed the Buckeyes he can be a brick wall. Halfway through the second period, Pikul made a perfect glove save on Buckeyes forward Matthew Weis, who on the breakaway looked for a shorthanded goal to put the Buckeyes on the board first. The scoring magic happened in the third period however, Buckeyes defenseman Matt Miller opened the third period with a goal past Pikul. The Colonials were sloppy at the start of the third period and couldn’t find chances to bang some in. Ten minutes later, the Colonials tied the score with a power-play goal by left winger Alex Tonge with assists to Michael Louria and Brady Ferguson. The Colonials could have stolen the lead and made it 2-1, but the goal was waved off. With four minutes remaining in the period, Ohio State forward Tanner Laczynski stole the lead to make it 2-1. Then Laczynski scored again with an empty-netter with less than a minute left to make it 3-1. Coach Schooley was expecting his players to play a full 60 minutes, play better defense and not allow easy goals tonight, but unfortunately, that wasn’t what the Colonials did. “I expected work ethic,” Schooley said. “I expected better defense and go out there and play 60 minutes. We can’t go out and allow easy goals. We have an easy goal again tonight, and the last game-winner was an easy goal, and you want to make sure you’re tougher on people and you get people away from the puck, and we didn’t do that.” Andrew Pikul made 37 saves Saturday night, and Coach Schooley praised him after the game, saying he’s the reason why the Colonials stayed in the game. “Andrew was outstanding,” said Schooley. “He was the single reason why we were in the game as long as we were.” Pikul said the Colonials are getting to where they need to be, but they have to pick up a few loose strings. “I think we’re almost there. We’re really really close,” Pikul said. “I think we just have to tighten up a couple of areas and try to limit one or two more mistakes. We need to fix broken plays like the empty-net goal, and it seems like every game we see too many of those.” Pikul, an Ohio native, said it’s cool to play Ohio State because he has friends who are on the team. “It’s pretty cool,” Pikul said. “I had a lot of buddies from high school graduate and go to Ohio State, and I know a few guys on the team. It’s a pretty cool experience.” Pikul enjoys and appreciates the crowded stands with supportive fans especially in big games like tonight. “It’s awesome. The crowd was super into it, the band was getting everyone into it, the lacrosse players were down in the corner as usual, so it was really nice to see everyone come out, and it’s obviously a huge game for us, against a good opponent,” Pikul said. The Colonials are home next Friday and Saturday as they host Holy Cross in Atlantic Hockey Conference play. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m. The OLSH Chargers were defeated by the Sewickley Academy Panthers, 3-1, Tuesday night in the season finale.
The Panthers opened the scoring early in the first half. OLSH had multiple chances but the Panthers goalie and the goal posts were in the way. It wasn’t until the second half when both teams became more competitive and physical. Half way through the second half, Chargers senior Andrew Heller tied the score at one a piece. Then ten minutes later, the Panthers retook the lead, which they wouldn’t give up. And with three minutes left into the game, the Panthers snuck a goal past Chargers goalkeeper Anthony Cerone to secure the win. OLSH coach Kip Michel thought his team was ready for some late-season heroics. “I was expecting a win. I thought Sewickley’s had a couple of down games and thought we could take advantage of that,” said Michel. “We’re typically better towards the end of the season so I thought this team was ready to play and get the win.” OLSH senior Ian Polidora credited the Panthers’ strong play, especially when the game was still undecided. “The Panthers played tough. They put in everything they had into this game especially in that last ten [minutes],” Polidora said. “They were playing strong but we always expect that from this team.” With playoffs around the corner, the Chargers need to become more aggressive and work on counter attacks to be successful. The Chargers are currently in second place in the WPIAL 1A standings and will face one of the two top teams when the regular season is over. It was a tough loss for the Chargers since most of the team are seniors. Heller and Polidora said playing their last game as a Charger is hard and they’re like a second family. “It’s a comradery here. We’re like a family,” said Polidora. “We play together, we hang out together. We’re all kind of like a unit we put into our game. We play smart and can trust each other on the field.” Moon, Pa. - The Robert Morris Colonials ended their game against the Bryant University Bulldogs in a 1-1 draw Friday afternoon. This tie would be the Colonials’ third of the season. During the first half of the game, the score was tied at zero, but the Colonials were being outshot 8-3 due to the great play of the Bulldogs offense attacking the Colonials defense and pounding balls on the net. In the second half of the game, the Colonials scored a goal by Bayley Winkel, his eighth of the season with an assist from Keane McIvor at 38:26 to make the score 1-0. After a hard-fought 21 minutes, the Bulldogs got a goal past Colonials goalie Winter Fondi at 17:40 to tie up the score. At the end of overtime, the Colonials bounced back with 10 shots and the Bulldogs 15. Coach Denniston said the Colonials deserved the tie. “We know the way they (Bryant) played and it was going to be probably one of the hardest physical game of the conference play,” said Denniston. “In the beginning, we weren’t up for it but we came around and did very well in the second half, probably deserved the tie.” The Colonials are picking themselves up as they are in third place in the standings. Keane McAvlor gives credit to the coaching staff for the team’s success in the past few games. “The effort was put in with the last week in practice,” said Mclvor. “We want to prove ourselves to other teams. With the help of coaches and staff, it helps us and motivated us.” The Colonials have five more games until playoffs. McIvor says there are doubters and he wants to prove them wrong as the future for the Colonials gets stronger. “Lots of people have doubts in us, but I think we can go on and win the conference if we continue to work hard and put in the work at practice,” said McIvor. The Colonial’s next game is home on Sunday, Oct. 15 when they face Farleigh Dickinson at the North Athletic Complex. “I believe in the goodness of a free society. And I believe that the society can remain good only as long as we are willing to fight for it, and to fight against whatever imperfections may exist.” – Jackie Robinson Moon, Pa. - On Sept. 25, 1789, Congress authorized the First Amendment, which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble; and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Fast forward 227 years. In September of 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to take a knee instead of standing during the singing of the National Anthem. He said he did this to protest police violence against African-Americans. Controversy quickly arose. Other African-American NFL players joined Kaepernick in this protest. However, the controversy was starting to subside when President Trump made several comments about Kaepernick and the NFL, using language not suitable for kids on national television. Last weekend, many more NFL players took the knee and locked arms to protest. A social media explosion ensued. The protest left me wondering if taking a knee takes place in high school sports. Evidently, it does. The Garfield High School football team in Seattle took the knee a few weeks after Kaepernick did. Their opponent that night joined them. But the biggest story took place only a few minutes from downtown Pittsburgh and at a school that received death threats due to this issue. Cornell High School is one of the smallest schools in Western Pennsylvania, serving 750 students from grades K-12. Dr. Aaron Thomas is the superintendent of the district, whose typical high school graduating class is between 35 and 55 students. Thirty percent of the student body is African-American, and 2% is Hispanic. The majority of students are Caucasian. On the afternoon before a 2016 Raiders football game, nine out of 12 cheerleaders took a knee, without telling anyone of their plans. To make matters worse, the VFW color guard was in attendance. A local television reporter did a story about it. Adults got on board and attacked Thomas. Thomas explained what happened to a local newspaper and apologized to the VFW for their actions. Just when Thomas thought the fire was blown out, it wasn’t. A national news source picked up the story. People from around the country called Cornell for days. Thomas and his family soon started receiving death threats. Next, a woman posted to her Facebook page a twisted version of Thomas’ interview and portrayed him as the mastermind behind what the cheerleaders had done. Seven million people read it. Thomas woke up the next morning to a full inbox of emails from her supporters leaving more death threats to him and his family. People took pictures of Thomas’ small children and his house and posted them on social media. His kids were escorted by police to and from school, and their house was under police supervision for several days. Thomas decided to close football games to the public. Parents of the players couldn’t attend those games. Thomas said that taking a knee during a sporting event has no gray area. “It’s either you’re completely offended and it’s wrong, or you’re on the other side where you’re like, ‘Well, someone has a right to stand, sit or kneel down.'” Thomas told me that he received over 600 death threat emails and thousands of phone calls because of this issue. The First Amendment allows us to say what we want. But targeting a high school, its superintendent and his family go too far. Thomas said he supported his students and their beliefs. “This was basically ruled upon in the 60’s. The kids can do this,” Thomas said. “I can’t force any kid to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance. I can’t force a kid to stand during the National Anthem. I can’t force a kid to pray. I can’t do that from a school standpoint.” When interviewing Thomas, I asked, “Do these cheerleaders know what they’re protesting or are they doing it because they saw an NFL player doing it?” “Nine out of the 12 cheerleaders knelt; it was led by two of them. The other seven did it because their friends did it,” said Thomas. “Two of them had their own reasons. One was based on inequality and something they had read and believed about the original lyrics to the anthem that promoted slavery. And the other girl went on a humanities trip to South Africa the summer before and saw some things and did that out of respect for what she saw.” Should taking the knee exist in high school sports? Yes. I support the First Amendment and Dr. Thomas. If students know what they’re doing and what taking the knee means, I wouldn’t care. Everyone has a right to express themselves and to stand true to the First Amendment. And those who disapprove of that position have the right to express that sentiment. It’s not hurting anyone. Freshmen should not play on varsity sports. They need to learn the intensity of the game, grow into themselves and watch and learn from the varsity team.
Proponents of freshmen playing at the varsity level say that if those ninth graders are strong, fast, or plain good enough, they should be able to play on varsity. The argument is that immediately going to varsity showcases their skills that they have shown in the years before entering high school. However, while they may be amazing, they should have one year or two years to work on their skills. They also need the time to adjust to the intensity of a high school game. High school varsity is a different game from middle school. Bill Pfeifer, head coach of Moon Area High School girls soccer team, noted after a rough start to a recent game that “a lot of young kids out there that aren’t used to the level of this game and the intensity.” When freshmen are coming out of middle school, they are also changing and growing. They need time to grow into themselves and learn how to move while getting taller and gaining muscle. Having them do that while also participating in an intense varsity game is difficult. “Coach Rodriguez recommended the transition to a varsity team should be a “slow one, not a large jump…Bring the player to the freshmen level, if they excel there move them to the JV level, if they excel there then perhaps they are ready for the demands of varsity but perhaps not,” said a study by Jeffrey Cherubini and Tiffany Bentley. People learn by watching. Having freshmen come in and immediately play with the varsity players is a disservice to them. They should have the time to play on a junior varsity team and watch the varsity players. They can train with the varsity players to learn, but actually playing with them on the field takes away from the time they could spend learning the game better. “More than half of the coaches noted that it takes time to bring a young athlete up to the mental and emotional level needed to play varsity,” said Cherubini and Bentley in their study. “A primary indicator of whether or not a young athlete will be able to successfully ‘make the jump’ from a modified or junior varsity level to the ‘prowess’ of a varsity level sport depends on this level of coachability.” While freshmen may be amazing players, they still need time to learn. High schools should give them that time by allowing them to play on junior varsity until they are sophomores or juniors. It would allow them to adjust to the intensity of the game, their own bodies as they grow and learn from the varsity players. Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Robert Morris Colonials won their exhibition game Saturday night versus the University of Ottawa with a score of 5-1. Colonials senior center Brady Ferguson scored two goals in the first and second periods to help Robert Morris beat Ottawa. “It was a power-play breakout,” Ferguson said in reference to his second goal in the second period. “Mike (Louria) threw it across to Alex (Tonge) and just went far to the net, and Tonge put it right on my stick and all I had to do was put it in the net.” Coach Derek Schooley didn’t know what to expect from his players after having only nine hours and 20 minutes’ worth of practice. “We didn’t know what to expect,” Schooley said. “We’ve had nine hours and 20 minutes of practice. We felt we’ve had a lot of returners and wanted to get some kinks out.” During the first and second periods, the Colonials found themselves not being able to keep the puck in Ottawa’s end. The Colonials feel they didn’t have enough time to work on things in practice. “We were good in some areas and sloppy in other areas. It’s also hard when you have 15 forwards and eight defensemen to keep everybody active in the hockey game,” Schooley said. “We worked on 5-on-3 and 3-on-5 for literally 30 seconds this morning. We haven’t had a chance to work on a lot of our system.” Despite the lack of practice, Coach Schooley liked what he saw in his players and the energy the team brought. The Colonials found themselves getting the puck faster and Brady Ferguson knows the importance of getting pucks fast for this team. “I think it’s really important. Division I hockey is really fast, a lot of dumping pucks and getting hungry with defensemen,” said Ferguson. “I think tonight we kind of proved that we can get pucks behind the defensemen and use our speed.” Ottawa leftwinger Marco Azzano scored late in the third period to put Ottawa on the board, but they were still trailing 4-1. Newcomer Brett Beauvais saw his first goal as a Colonial along with Eric Israel in the second period and Michael Louria in the third. The Colonials open their regular season on the road at Niagara University on Friday, Oct. 6 at 7:05 p.m. The next home game for the Colonials is Oct. 20 when they face Army. The Robert Morris Colonials finished their seventh game of the season Saturday evening with a 1-1 tie to the Bucknell Bison after both teams failed to tally another goal after two overtime periods. Colonial senior Bayley Winkel scored his sixth goal of the season early in the first half to give Robert Morris the lead. “It was a lot like my other goals. Going one-on-one through my teammate getting the ball in those situations, and I’m just looking at the goal,” Winkel said. “I did a couple of jukes and finally beat the goalie to my right and simple shot that went in,” Winkle said. Coach Bill Denniston says Winkel has improved his game a lot since last season. “Bayley is super-fast. Last year he really didn’t do very much and was one of those players who you watched and thought he should be tearing it up, and now he is,” said Denniston. “When he’s one-on-one, there’s a pretty good chance he’s going to get a shot,” Denniston said. The Colonials effort today was great and they’re making progress. Like every team, Denniston is expecting his players to win. “The players know we need to win for mentality more than anything because they have been playing well. So today is not a complete disappointment. Although, certainly disappointing. We need to handle the lead a little better. We play a certain way until we get a goal or two, and then we tend to sit back a bit and invite pressure, and that costs you,” Denniston said. Bayley Winkel isn’t the only Colonial playing great. Goalkeeper Winter Fondi has been solid for the Colonials so far this season. “Fondi, every game, saves. The Bison had a lot of shots and out-shot us, and Fondi had a lot of saves and we rely on him a lot,” said Winkel. “Being a goalkeeper is a hard job to do. You can’t blame him when the goals go in, but he can stop blocks,” Winkle said. However, Denniston doesn’t have any concerns for the rest of the season. “I think we’re going to be absolutely fine. I look at what the rest of the conference is doing, I look at the way we’re playing. The results haven’t come so far, but that isn’t as important as it will be in a few weeks from now for conferences,” Denniston said. During the second half, Bison sophomore Nick King tied the score with less than five minutes left in the second. Neither team was able to find the back-of-net during the extra overtime periods. The Colonials are now 0-6-1 this season. The next game for Robert Morris is Tuesday night at the University of Pittsburgh. Robert Morris: 1, Niagara: 2
Moon, Pa. - The Robert Morris Colonials lost their fifth straight game Friday evening against the Niagara Purple Eagles in Oneonta, NY by the score of 2-1. Colonial midfielder Bayley Winkel scored early in the first half to give Robert Morris the lead. Unfortunately, the Colonials couldn’t hold on to their lead. Purple Eagle forward Asante Carroll scored both goals for Niagara during the second half. Despite the loss, Robert Morris outshot the Purple Eagles 10-8. RMU goalie Winter Fondi made one save throughout the game. The next game for the Colonials is Sunday afternoon vs. Fairfield in Oneonta, NY at noon. |
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