WHEN: Saturday, March 3 | 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: Joe Walton Stadium| Moon Township, Pa.
RECORDS: High Point (0-5), Robert Morris (2-2)
SERIES RECORD: High Point leads 2-1
LAST MEETING: Robert Morris won 9-7 on March 5, 2017
VIDEO: NEC Front Row
LIVE STATS: RMUColonials.Com
GAME NOTES: HighPointPanthers.Com
 
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's lacrosse team hits the road to take on Robert Morris on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in Moon Township, Pa. Saturday's contest is the final non-conference game of the regular season for HPU.
 
The Panthers had a week of rest for the first time this season after playing their first five games in a 17-day span. Meanwhile, the Colonials are also well rested after besting No. 16 Penn State 12-9 last weekend.
 
Quick Hitters
• Freshman Asher Nolting has 19 points so far this spring after a nine-point week against No. 6 Virginia and St. John's. The attackman's 19 points are the most by a Panther through five career games in the program's history.
 
• Nolting has tallied three points in all five games, which is the longest such streak by a freshman in HPU history and the longest three-point streak since Matt Thistle's four-game streak in 2016.
 
• NCAA.Com named Nolting's one-handed bounce shot against No. 6 Virginia the lacrosse play of the week. Also, it was the No. 8 play on the NCAATop10 for the week.
 
• Senior Connor Robinson has three straight hat tricks after tallying just two in his first 45 career games. It's the longest hat trick streak since Matt Thistle scored three goals in four straight contests early in the 2016 campaign.
 
• Led by Robinson's 13 goals, HPU's four Canadians have combined for 22 of the team's 48 goals this season. Senior Chris Young has six while freshman Tyler Stinson has added three. It's just a matter of time before Adam Dickson joins them having five shots on goal through five games this year.
 
• Seven of the 12 Panthers to score a goal this year either missed the 2018 campaign or are freshmen this year.
 
• Nolting ranks second in the SoCon and 45th nationally with 3.80 points per contest this spring.
• Nolting is tied for sixth among freshmen nationally in points per game and fifth in assists per outing.
 
• Freshman Clayton Krol racked up three caused turnovers in last Saturday's tilt at St. John's. He now leads the team in caused turnovers with five.
 
• High Point has been within goal in the second half in each of the last three games. The team trailed Maryland 14-13 with 4:16 to play, had Virginia tied 9-9 at half and trailed 12-11 with 13:34 to go at St. John's last Saturday. However, the team wasn't been able to close out those contests.
 
• Sophomore Davis Sampere ranks 16th in the nation picking up 6.50 ground balls per game as the Panthers rank 30th in ground balls per game (28.4). That's up from last season's average of 23.3, which ranked 65th nationally.
 
• HPU's goalkeeper rotation of junior Tim Troutner Jr. and senior Zach Tuell have combined for 11.00 saves per game, which ranks 22nd in the nation.
 
• High Point is 11-27 all-time in road games. This is High Point's fourth road game against an NEC foe (2-1) including a 15-10 victory at RMU in 2016.
 
Underclassmen Playing Big Roles
• So far this season, 27 of HPU's 48 goals have been scored by underclassmen. Meanwhile, 12 of the squad's 17 assists were credited to underclassmen.
 
• Nolting, a freshman, leads the team in points and assists while Krol, another freshman, has the most caused turnovers.
 
• Behind Krol's five caused turnovers, underclassmen have accounted for 14 of the Panthers' 27 caused turnovers.
 
• Led by Sampere's 32 ground balls, first- or second-year players have accounted for 77 of the 142 ground balls thus far this spring.
 
Heading in the Right Direction
• Last year the Panthers ranked 69th in the nation in face-off winning percentage (.339). Paced by Sampere's effort at the midfield dot, High Point is up to .473, which ranks 41st nationally.
 
• Last spring, HPU ranked 65th in ground balls per game and only won the ground ball battle in only one contest. This year, High Point is up to 30th nationally.
 
• The Purple & White allowed goals on seven of their first 12 man-down situations this season. However, the team has responded limiting opponents to two goals in the last 11 man-down scenarios. Overall, the team's man-down unit is 49th in the nation with a .609 mark. HPU was 62nd in 2017 (.500).
 
All-Time Series with Robert Morris
The Panthers are 2-1 all-time against the Colonials with the road team winning the last two meetings.
 
All-Time Mark Against the NEC
The Purple & White are 5-3 all-time against the NEC. Going along with its 2-1 mark against Robert Morris, HPU is 2-0 against Sacred Heart, 1-2 versus St. Joseph's.
 
Last Time They Met
HPU trailed 8-3 entering the fourth quarter before going on a 5-1 run to get within two goals before falling by that 9-7 margin. Robinson (2g) and Jason Ashwood (1g, 1a) each had two points while Troutner made 11 stops in the crease for the Panthers in the setback.
 
Next Up
The Panthers have a week off before entering Southern Conference play against Bellarmine on Saturday, March 17 in Vert Stadium with a noon opening face-off.
 
#GoHPU