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ALFRED, NY -- The RIT men's lacrosse team held off a late rally to defeat Alfred University (8-4, 1-4 E8) 13-11 in Empire 8 action on Wednesday afternoon. The win improves RIT to 8-3 overall and 3-2 in the Empire 8.
RIT out shot Alfred 51-35 and won the ground ball battle 50-27. The Tigers won 21-of-28 face-offs and cleared the ball 23-of-25 times.
The Tigers led 9-3 at half time and 10-6 after three quarters. RIT held off a five-goal fourth quarter from the Saxons for the win.
Iric Bressler (Stafford, VA/N. Stafford) had a nice afternoon for RIT, tallying five points on three goals and two assists.
Sean Gillies (Oakville, ON/Albany Academy) scored three goals and
Kelso Davis (Freeport, ME/Deerfield Academy) and
David Burke (Fairport, NY) each had a pair of goals.
M.J. Kiekebelt (Caledon, ON/St. Andrews College-Aurora) had three ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Dan MacRae (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) had six grouond balls and caused three turnovers.
Rob Tonnessen (Ridgefield, CT) picked up the win making eight saves, allowing 11 goals.
RIT scored six times in the first quarter, leading 6-2. David Burke had two goals in the opening quarter and Iric Bressler had a goal and an assist.
The Tigers opened the game with a three-goal run. Adam Lehmann took the opening face-off and gave RIT a 1-0 lead eight seconds into the contest.
Bressler made it 2-0 RIT 31 seconds into the game with an unassisted goal. Burke scored the first of his two goals 52 seconds into the quarter, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
After a pair of Alfred goals cut the score to 3-2,
Billy Walton (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham), Kelso Davis and Burke scored sonsecutive goals for the Tigers, giving them a 6-2 lead.
RIT got three more goals from Bressler and Gillies in the second quarter and held Alfred to one goal, leading 9-2 at the half. Gillies scored two of his three goals in the second quarter.
The Tigers stumbled a little in the third quarter, allowing three Alfred goals. Gillies scored RIT's lone goal in the second quarter as RIT took a 10-6 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Saxons scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter, cutting RIT's lead down to 10-8. After a
Tanner King (Virginia Beach, VA/Corning East) goal made it 11-8, Alfred scored two more goals cutting RIT's lead to 11-10 with 7:51 to play.
Kelso Davis tallied an unassisted goal with 7:22 to play, giving the Tigers a 12-10 lead. Bressler struck for the third time in the game with 4:26 remaining making it 13-10 RIT.
The Saxons got a goal inside the final minute of play making the final 13-11.
RIT hits the road for a non-conference game on Sunday, April 19 against Eastern Connecticut. Game time is 1 pm.