Moon, PA- Rocket League Blue entered the NACE playoffs after finishing 11th in the league this season out of 61 teams. They secured the #3 seed in Bracket C following a 7-3 campaign and were slotted against #14 seed Arcadia Black. Arcadia finished 55th in the regular season with a 3-7 record. While the matchup heavily favored Robert Morris, the Best of 5 series always has a potential for an upset. However, RMU knew they couldn't take their opening round opponent too lightly. Captain
Ryan Conti explained "We can't look ahead of anybody. That said, we've been practicing harder than ever before and feel confident it'll be a sweep".
That confidence would carry into the results on the pitch as RMU looked dominant in all 3 games. All three ended in RMU wins, by scores of 8-1, 7-0, and 9-0.
Game 1: RMU wins 8-1
The Colonials looked sharp right from the start, scoring within the first 22 seconds of the match. Captain_IceFire (
Chris Willard) opened the scoring with a well placed tuck in the left side corner, making it 1-0. Slurpe (
Ryan Conti) doubled up the Colonial lead with an aerial goal going bardown off the crossbar. Reprivation (
Michael Campbell) caught a rebound opportunity and tucked it far side to make it 3-0. All three Colonials scored within the the first minute and a half, highlighting the versatility of the RMU lineup. Ultimately, the team kept making great plays in the offensive zone and continued to make smart defensive clearing attempts to take a 1-0 series advantage.
Slurpe finished the match with 3 goals and an assist, as did Reprivation. Captain_IceFire was the set up man in this one, recording 2 goals and 3 assists in the match.
Game 2: RMU wins 7-0
Captain_IceFire opened the scoring just as he did in the first game. His sharp angle shot from the left corner found it's way home and the Colonials went up 1-0 only 30 seconds in. The second goal of the match was an absolute beauty. Captain_IceFire collected the ball by the RMU net and air dribbled his way past midfield on the right side. He the lofted a cross toward the center of the pitch in a high danger scoring area. Reprivation and Slurpe both went aerial to collect the pass, with the former going high and the latter going low. Reprivation's attempt was merely a feint, as he let it go by as Slurpe blasted the shot through the scrambling Arcadia defense to make it 2-0.
The team played lock down defense all game. Despite allowing more shots in Game 2, the chances were from less dangerous locations and were easy stops for the squad. The team cruised on to a 7-0 victory. The leading goalscorer for RMU was the captain. Slurpe finished with 4 goals. Reprivation added 2 goals, 2 assists, and 2 saves, and Captain_IceFire ended the match with a goal, 2 assists, and a save.
Game 3: RMU wins 9-0
The Colonials got off to a slower start in this one, if leading 4-0 at the halfway point in the game qualifies as that. But compared to the previous games the Colonials did not play as crisp as they had in the games prior. RMU had no issues with their rotations and positioning, as they almost always were in the right spot to beat Arcadia to the ball. It was just the execution of shooting off of these steals and crossing passes that left a bit to be desired. They finally starting connecting on these in the final minute and 5 seconds of the match, which how the score went from 4-0 with a minute and 5 seconds left to finish 9-0. The final stat line from the match was as followed: Slurpe recorded a sensational 6 goals, and Reprivation picked up a goal and 5 assists. Captain_IceFire spend a lot of this one on defense, he finished with 2 goals and a save.
Robert Morris advances now to Round 2 of the NACE Playoffs against Edinboro's A team. This Edinboro squad finished 23rd in the regular season with a 5-5 record, and is a #6 seed in Bracket C.
Alexander Gagnon '21
Club Sport Information Director
