High Point men’s lacrosse edged by Robert Morris, 9-7

• Senior Cole Carns netted two goals and an assist to pace the HPU offense.
• Sophomore Tim Troutner Jr. recorded 11 saves and three ground balls in the contest.
• Junior Connor Robinson recorded his third straight multi-goal with two goals on the day.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team fell behind early and couldn’t recover in a 9-7 setback to Robert Morris on Sunday in Vert Stadium.

The Colonials (4-1) built a 5-1 advantage midway through the second quarter that the Panthers (2-4) could never overcome. Junior Connor Robinson scored two second-quarter goals to cut the deficit to two, 5-3, but HPU couldn’t get any closer the rest of the way.

“Robert Morris is a very good team and they are extremely well coached,” head coach Jon Torpey said. “Hats off to them and their staff because they beat us in all facets of the game today.”

Senior Cole Carns paced the offense with three points (2g, 1a) while Robinson netted his third straight multi-goal game scoring twice.

Defensively, sophomore Tim Troutner Jr. made 11 stops and three ground balls from his goalie spot. Meanwhile, junior Terrell Sands caused an RMU turnover and picked up four ground balls.

At the face-off ‘X’ junior Chris Young went 4-of-9 while sophomore Brandon Savoie posted a 4-of-6 mark as the Colonials took 11 of the 19 face-offs.

To go along with his four face-off wins and four ground balls, Young tallied a goal as freshman Mitchel Snyder and junior Jason Ashwood also racked up goals.

Ashwood added an assist to go with his goal while seniors Sean Harrison and Mick Horrocks and redshirt-freshman Grant Bimstefer each recorded assists.

Overall, the Colonials won the ground ball battle by five (31-26), but High Point attempted three more shots (40-37) with both team getting 20 on goal.

In the first, the Colonials got on the board first before Harrison found a cutting Ashwood for the equalizer midway through the frame. However, RMU answered scoring the next four goals to build a 5-1 edge with 12:58 left in the half.

Robinson, though, scored at the 11:17 and 3:25 marks in the second to pull High Point within two at 5-3. But the Colonials capitalized on a man-up opportunity to take a 6-3 advantage into the half.

After Robert Morris tallied a 2-0 edge in the third, Snyder opened the scoring in the fourth period to make it 8-4 with 14:17 left to play. However, RMU netted an EMO goal with 10:57 to up its lead to five at 9-4.

From there, Carns and Young each recorded unassisted goals before Carns scored off Ashwood’s assist to make it 9-7 with 4:20 to play. However, the Panthers were only able to get three more shots off with just one on goals as RMU held on for the victory.

The Panthers are back on the road on Saturday to take on the Friars at 1 p.m. in Providence, R.I.