HPU Men’s Lacrosse Drops Road Contest at Robert Morris, 16-11

• Freshman Asher Nolting extended his streak of scoring at least three points in every game this season notching three goals and two assists.
• Senior Connor Robinson registered three goals to record his fourth straight hat trick.
• High Point has a week off before starting conference play on March 17 against Bellarmine in Vert Stadium.

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team went on the road and fell 16-11 at Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon in Joe Walton Stadium.

The Panthers (0-6) fell behind 6-2 after the first quarter and could never overcome that four-goal deficit as the Colonials (3-2) held off a late charge to earn the win.

“I’m disappointed with the sense of urgency, speed and execution we played with today in the early part of the game,” head coach Jon Torpey said. “You have to be prepared to play for 60 minutes if you are going to beat anyone at this level. We have a lot of work to do as we head into conference. I look forward to seeing how our young men rise to the challenge.”

Freshman Asher Nolting paced the offense scoring three goals to go with two assists. The attackman has scored at least three points in all six games this season, which is the second-longest streak in HPU history behind Matt Thistle’s seven-game stretch from 2014-15.

Meanwhile, senior Connor Robinson tallied his fourth consecutive hat trick with three goals on the day. That ties Thistle for the program’s longest hat trick streak. A fellow Canadian, senior Chris Young, also posted three points scoring two goals while dishing out an assist.

Freshman Koby Russell recorded his second straight multi-goal game as freshman Colin Clothier rounded out the goal scoring and also added four ground balls.

At the face-off ‘X’ sophomore Davis Sampere went 15-of-30 with nine ground balls and an assist. Overall, the teams split the face-offs 15-15 as the Panthers earned a 41-39 edge on the ground.

Despite those numbers, RMU attempted 46 shots to HPU’s 39 putting 31 on goal while the Panthers racked up 27 on the cage. In the crease, junior Tim Troutner Jr. made 13 stops while senior Zach Tuell stopped the two shots he faced.

Defensively, freshmen Clayton Krol and Taylor Acra tied for the team lead with two caused turnovers while junior Griff Caligiuri recorded a caused turnover and an assist – his first point of the year. Also registering his first point of the year, freshman Riley Smith was credited with an assist.

After RMU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes, Young scored his first goal of the day at the 11:59 mark to make it 2-1. However, the Colonials posted a 3-0 spurt before Nolting made it 5-2 with 1:58 remaining in the first.

Once again, Robert Morris notched three straight tallies before Young scored again the cut the deficit back to five at 8-3 with 11:44 in the second. Robinson, then, scored his 14th goal of the year to make it 8-4 with 8:00 minutes until halftime.

But the Colonials wouldn’t let HPU any closer scoring two goals in the final 20 seconds of the first half before winning the third 6-1 to build a 16-5 margin. From there, Russell and Robinson both scored twice as Nolting and Clothier also posted goals during the Panthers’ 6-0 run through the fourth. However, the Colonials were able to hold on for a 16-11 victory.

High Point has two weeks off to prepare for Southern Conference action, which opens up on Saturday, March 17 against Bellarmine in Vert Stadium.