Men's Lacrosse | 5/14/2012 3:20:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The No. 7 RIT men's lacrosse team (16-2) will face No. 4 Tufts University (17-2) in the Quarterfinals of the 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship on Wednesday, May 16 at 4 p.m. at Bello Field in Medford, Mass. Both teams come in riding long winning streaks. RIT has won nine in a row, while Tufts is on a 12-game winning streaks.

The Tigers advanced to the quarterfinals with a 15-9 win over Western New England University in the second round on Saturday. The Tigers outscored the Golden Bears 7-2 in the second half. Freshman Kyle Aquin (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean De Brebeuf) scored four goals, while Taylor Wisman (Seattle, WA/Inglemoor) had a goal and four assists. Anthony DeLeo (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) picked up his 15th win making 11 saves.

The Jumbos advanced to the quarterfinals with a 17-8 win over Trinity College on Saturday in the second round. Tufts out-scored the Bantams 7-2 in the second quarter to blow the game open. Five players had multiple goals for the Jumbos, including Beau Wood, who tallied three times and added an assist. Geordie Shafer's goal and pair of assists gave him three points. Sophomore goalie Patton Watkins made six saves.

RIT is making its 14th overall NCAA Tournament appearance and third straight trip to the quarterfinals. The Jumbos are making their fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including three straight trips to the quarterfinals. Tufts won the 2010 NCAA National Championship over Salisbury and were the national runners up last season, falling to Salisbury in the title game.

This is just the second meeting between these two schools, with the first coming in the 2011 NCAA National Semifinal held at RIT. The game was tied 12-12 with 4:42 to play in the fourth quarter, but the Jumbos scored four straight to earn their second straight trip to the National Championship game, handing RIT its only loss of the season. Tyler Russell (Livonia, NY/Livonia) scored five goals to lead RIT. Iric Bressler (Stafford, VA/North Stafford) had two goals and dished out four assists.

The winner advances to the National Semifinals on Sunday, May 20 and will face the winner between SUNY Cortland and Union College who play on Wednesday in Cortland, New York.

RIT comes into Saturday averaging 12.94 goals per game, which is 18th in all of Division III. RIT has outscored its opponents 233-136 this season and have scored in double figures in 14-of-18 games. RIT's man-up unit is tops in all of Division III, converting 23-of-45 (51.1%) on the season.

RIT features 11 players with 10 or more points, seven players with 20 or more points, five players with 30 or more points and four players with at least 40 points on the season. Russell leads the team in scoring with 57 points on 48 goals and nine assists. Russell, the 2012 Liberty League Player of the Year, is eighth all-time with 123 career goals. 2012 Liberty League Rookie of the Year Brendan MacDonald (Georgetown, Ontario/Trinity-Pawling) is second on the team in scoring with 48 points on 32 goals and 16 assists. Wisman is third with 47 points (16g, 31a); #A.J. Tingle# is fourth with 41 points (25g, 16a), while Jordan Collins-Hartwig (Buffalo, NY/Clarence) is fifth with 39 points (27g, 12a).

Defensively, RIT allows just 7.56 goals per game. DeLeo, a 2012 honorable mention All-Liberty League selection, is 15-2 on the season with a 7.26 goals against average, and a .601 save percentage. Senior defenseman Eric Horeth (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) leads the Tigers with 30 caused turnovers, while grabbing 37 ground balls. Elliott Cowburn (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) has 15 caused turnovers and 31 ground balls.

Tufts enters Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup averaging 12.2 goals per game and have outscored its opponents 234-142 this season.  The Jumbos man-up unit has scored on 18-of-76 (23.7%) of their opportunities this season.

The Jumbos feature 10 players with 10 or more points, six players with 20 or more points, five players with at least 30 points, three with at least 50 points and two players with more than 60 points.  Beau Wood and Cole Bailey lead the attack with 63 points each.  Wood has 49 goals and 14 assists, while Bailey has 23 goals and 40 assists.  Kevin McCormick is the Jumbos' other 50-point scorer, with 41 goals and 13 assists for 54 points.

Defensively, Tufts is allowing just 7.42 goals per game and has held its opponents to 10 goals or fewer in 16-of-19 games.  Sophomore Patton Watkins has seen the majority of the minutes in net this season for the Jumbos, posting a 16-2 record with a 7.44 goals against average and a .589 save percentage.  Sam Gardner and Dan Alles lead the team with 19 caused turnovers, while Nick Rhoads has been impressive at the face-off “X”, winning 59.6 percent and picking up 149 ground balls.