Perhaps certain things along the course of their historic journey have happened to the No. 18/19 Robert Morris men's lacrosse team for a reason. Perhaps they were destined to win their first Northeast Conference Tournament championship on Philadelphia soil so that tournament MVP Alex Heger could help them avenge a narrow Senior Day loss to St. Joseph's that cost them a shot at the regular-season crown. Perhaps they were supposed to play at the home of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament champions, after being controversially seeded, to prove just how much they deserve to be a part of May Madness. Perhaps sophomore goalkeeper Chris Reynolds, on Wednesday afternoon, after playing the waiting game behind the more established Heger, was meant to have the biggest stage of his career to prove the future of his position is in capable hands in both the short and long term for Robert Morris. With Heger unavailable due to a lower-body injury, the Worthington, Ohio native made six saves to earn his first collegiate victory in place of the two-time all-conference honoree, and his defense shored up a 12-6 smothering of Canisius at the Demske Sports Complex in the Opening Round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament. The Colonials (13-4) shut out the Golden Griffins (8-9) for a stretch of 28:35 and scored seven unanswered goals to close the first half and send them on their way to the first NCAA Tournament win in team history. Substitute attackman, co-captain and graduate student Justin Mayfield picked the perfect time to pick up his first Robert Morris hat trick, and redshirt junior attackman Jimmy Perkins tallied twice to propel RMU to a First Round contest at No. 1 Maryland, the defending Division I champion, Sunday at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Meanwhile, the even-keeled approach of head coach Andrew McMinn, who continues to break new ground with his 2018 squad, proved to be the solution to any potential crisis in net. "It served me very well," said Reynolds, coming off a regular season in which he only saw 12:27 of playing time. "I have to be prepared to be in that position every week, so I was ready to go. A lot of the guys helped me settle down, and Coach told me to go back to a place where I'm comfortable, and just stay there the entire game." "Like with Justin, we're very confident in any guy on our roster," McMinn said of Reynolds. "We push across for every single guy to work like they are a starter. We've done that throughout the entire year. In our opinion, Alex is probably the best there is to offer, but we're confident in Chris. He stepped up and showed why we have that confidence in him." Offensive, the best the Griffs could muster against the first-time starter were three assists from two-time MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Connor Kearnan, who set a new single-season conference record for points (83). It wouldn't be enough to weather an early storm by the NEC champs. Another underclassman delivered the first bolt of lightning, as All-NEC Rookie Team selection Corson Kealey beat Liam Ganzhorn amid a running shot clock to get the Colonials on the board with under four-and-a-half minutes to go in the first quarter. Mayfield got his fifth of the season on a wraparound from deep in the left wing set up by Perkins, who finished with a game-high four points, to give them their first lead with 1:49 left. Four-and-a-half minutes into the second, Ryan Smith made it 3-1 RMU on a clever backhander under duress from the close right wing. Then, symbolic of the chaos caused all day by the Colonials defense, Mitchell Wales led an odd-man rush in transition that ended up in the pocket of Zachary Bryant, and the NEC Defensive Player of the Year buried his first goal since the season opener at Rutgers Feb. 3 to force a Griffins timeout with 6:06 left in the half. That did little to stabilize their Canisius counterparts, who were caught over-pursuing Perkins at X, including Ganzhorn. He lobbed the ball to Mayfield, who easily found the vacant net for his sixth of the campaign with 3:52 to play. Shane Majewski, somehow, got his fifth while sandwiched between two defenders, extending the visitors' lead to 6-1 just 1:12 later, and Carter Yepsen, from the right side, picked the top right corner with a seeing-eye shot for a 7-1 halftime advantage. "We didn't really focus on the scoreboard too much, just continued to pound away with [our] gameplan: continue to get in transition, and limit those turnovers in transition," Mayfield said after enjoying his first multi-goal game since Feb. 11, 2017. "We started putting the ball in the back of the net, and when you get to that point, things start to open up." The Colonials committed only 14 turnovers to the 20 by the Golden Griffins, and they finished a solid 17-for-18 (.944) on clearing attempts. "We know we're going to battle when we go against these guys," McMinn said. "I think there's a little familiarity, and some of that extra push, just because these guys do see each other, in the summers, back home. The effort was there on both sides, which you certainly expect in a playoff game, and I'm certainly proud of the effort we showed." By the time Canisius chipped away, they were already in control. Perkins used his familiar wraparound maneuver with nine minutes left in the third quarter to quickly answer a Griffs goal, then Mayfield completed his HT and Tyson Gibson, the hero of the NEC Final, punctuated his 20-game point streak--a streak that began versus Canisius Apr. 18, 2017--less than a minute apart. "Guys were ready for their number to be called," Perkins said. "Chris is a perfect example, and Justin. Those guys stepped into high-pressure situations, and, as Coach would say, they treated it like another day. Everybody executed. They played awesome. "[Our coaches] are going to show us what we need to do, and, ultimately, it comes down to us to execute those things." The Pittsburgh prodigy made his signature move again to score five seconds before the horn for an 11-3 Robert Morris lead through three periods, not to mention his team-best 58th point of the season, and Majewski would add another before the midpoint of the fourth. It was more than enough for RMU to punch its dance card one more time. Senior all-conference defenseman Zac Christianson helped out his keeper with a pair of ground balls and caused turnovers each, and, also at the other end, junior All-NEC long stick midfielder Jack Toomb collected three ground balls and one of the six other CT's registered by the Colonials. Their matchup with the top-seeded Terps is set for a noon telecast Sunday, live from Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium in College Park, on ESPNU. "It's pretty cool. I'm just trying to enjoy every moment I've had with this team," Mayfield said. "It's been an incredible year, and I think having that outlook the past two or three weeks has really helped our team. We're just trying to have the most fun that we can."