| 4/27/2007 6:31:23 PM

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PITTSFORD, NY -- The RIT men's lacrosse team was held scoreless in the fourth quarter, losing to Nazareth College 14-8 in the Empire 8 men's lacrosse semifinals. The loss drops the Tigers to 12-3 overall.

The game was tight throughout, tied after the first three quarters. Wes Adam (Lafayette, NY/Lafayette) (Lafayette, NY) gave RIT a 1-0 lead early in the first quarter on a well-placed shot.

After Nazareth tied it up, Andrew Ruocco (Corning, NY/Corning East) (Corning, NY/Corning East) gave the Tigers the lead back with a nice individual effort.

The Golden Flyers took the lead on two straight goals but Wes Adam (Lafayette, NY/Lafayette)'s second goal of the quarter tied the game at 3-3 after one quarter of play.

Andrew Ruocco (Corning, NY/Corning East) gave RIT a 4-3 lead early in the second quarter on a nice feed from Stephen Papa (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) (Niskayuna, NY).

The Golden Flyers tied the game on a goal by Ryan Hotaling but Scott Farress (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) (Webster, NY) made it 5-4 with his first goal of the afternoon.

Jordan Hirsch scored the first of his six goals to tie the game at 5-5 late in the half.

After halftime RIT came out on fire scoring the first two goals of the third quarter, taking a 7-5 lead.

Ruocco scored his third goal of the afternoon on an assist from Eric Pritchard (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) (Webster, NY), making it 6-5 RIT.

Farress made it 7-5 with 10:11 to play in the third on  another nice feed from Pritchard.

Nazareth responded with three straight goals in the third, taking an 8-7 lead on Hirsch's second goal of the quarter.

With time running out in the third Stephen Papa (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) looked to give RIT the momentum back. With seven seconds remaining he took the ball from midfield, drove to the cage and scored with 0.9 seconds to play, tying the score at 8-8.

But, the Golden Flyers grabbed the momentum back, scoring six times in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Ruocco finished with four points on three goals and an assist. Scott Farress (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and Wes Adam (Lafayette, NY/Lafayette) each had two goals and Eric Pritchard (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) had a pair of assists.

RIT was dominated in ground balls and face-offs by Nazareth. The Tigers won eight of 25 face-offs and were out ground balled 44-33.

John Foley (Arthur, ON/Our Lady of Lourdes) (Arthur, ON/Our Lady of Lourdes) made 12 saves in net for the Tigers who await a possible at-large berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.