Men's Lacrosse | 4/14/2010 7:39:47 PM

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PITTSFORD, NY -- The RIT men's lacrosse team dropped another close game, losing to St. John Fisher College 12-9 in Empire 8 action on Wednesday afternoon. The loss drops RIT to 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the Empire 8.

After jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals from David Burke (Fairport, NY/Fairport) and Adam Vlassis (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa), the Tigers allowed seven straight goals to the Cardinals, falling behind 7-2 late in the first quarter and early in the second.

RIT got back in the game in the second quarter, scoring four straight goals. Kelso Davis (Freeport, ME/Deerfield Academy) broke the scoring drought on a man-up goal cutting the Fisher lead to 7-3. Sean Gillies (Oakville, Ontario/Albany Academy) made it 7-4 with 3:23 to play in the half and Alex Crepinsek (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) made it 7-5 with 3:05 to play in the quarter. Burke cut the lead to 7-6 with his second goal of the half.

After a St. John Fisher goal made it 8-6 early in the third quarter, #M.J. Kiekebelt# tallied his ninth goal of the season on an assist from Crepinsek cutting the lead to 8-7.

Junior Chris Cherami (Olwick, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) completed the RIT comeback with an unassisted goal early in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 8-8.

The Cardinals responded with three straight goals in a 3:08 span to take an 11-8 lead. Davis scored his second of the game with 5:10 to play to cut the lead back to two at 11-9, but the Cardinals put the game away with a late goal to make it a 12-9 final.

Burke and Davis led RIT with two goals apiece. Crepinsek added a goal and an assist, and M.J. Kiekebelt, Gillies, Cherami and Adam Vlassis (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) each scored a goal.

RIT turned the ball over 23 times including 10 in the second half. The Tigers out shot the Cardinals 40-32, but struggled clearing the ball going 11-of-16 on the game. RIT went 1-for-2 with the man advantage while holding Fisher to zero goals in four chances.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, April 17 at Stevens. Face off is at 1 pm in Hoboken, New Jersey.