Men's Lacrosse | 3/30/2011 6:36:41 PM

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CORTLAND, NY -- The fifth ranked RIT (6-0) men's lacrosse team avenged a loss in the 2010 NCAA Quarterfinals, rallying to beat No. 4 SUNY Cortland (4-2) 12-11 on Wednesday. The Tigers erased a 7-2 first half deficit, and a 10-8 deficit with 15 minutes remaining, scoring four goals in the fourth quarter, including the game-winner with :29 remaining from senior Iric Bressler (Stafford, VA/North Stafford).

RIT trailed 10-7 with 8:50 remaining in the third quarter, but rallied with a goal to close out the quarter and tallied the first four of the final quarter to take a 12-10 lead. Senior Chris Cherami (Olwick, NJ/Seton Hall Prep)'s goal with 6:30 remaining in regulation broke a 10-10 tie and gave the TIgers their first lead of the game. Bressler added an insurance goal with :29 seconds remaining to seal the first win for RIT over the Red Dragons since 2000.

Junior midfielder Jordan Collins-Hartwig (Buffalo, NY/Clarence) led RIT with five points on three goals and two assists. Cherami and Jordan MacIntosh (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) each added two goals and an assist for the Tigers, who improve to 6-0 on the season. Bressler and Tyler Russell (Livonia, NY/Livonia) each had a goal and an assist.

Senior MJ Kiekebelt (Caledon, Ontario/St. Andrews College/Aurora) proved why he is one of the best long-stick midfielders in the country, winning seven face-offs, including three in the fourth quarter. He also had four ground balls and four caused turnovers.

Bob Tonnessen (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) improved to 6-0 on the season making 13 saves, four of which came in the fourth quarter.

Cortland jumped out to a quick lead, scoring the first three goals of the contest and led 6-2 after the first quarter. Cherami and Collins-Hartwig scored the only goals for the TIgers in the quarter.

RIT rallied in the second quarter, outscoring the Red Dragons 5-2, to pull within a goal, at 8-7. Four different Tigers scored in that quarter including MacIntosh, who had two. Kelso Davis (Freeport, ME/Deerfield Academy), Tom Riley (West Nyack, NY/Clarkstown South) and #A.J. Tingle# also had goals in the quarter to help pull the TIgers to within a goal at the half.

Joe Slavik and Mike Tota opend the third quarter with goals for Cortland, extending its lead to 10-7.

Collins-Hartwig was credited with a goal with 6:11 remaining in the third on a strange play that helped change the momentum of the game. Cortland's Shane Crossett threw the ball into his own net after a turnover by the Tigers. Collins-Hartwig was given credit for the goal that sparked the RIT run.

Collins-Hartwig added his third of the game with 8:49 remaining in the fourth quarter to make it a 10-9 game.

Russell scored off an assist from MacIntosh with 8:31 remaining in regulation, tying the game at 10-10.

With 6:30 remaining, Cherami took a feed from Bressler and fired a shot that gave the Tigers their first lead of the contest at 11-10.

Bressler added an insurance goal to make it 12-10 with :29 second remaining. That goal proved to be the game-winner as Cortland won the ensuing face-off. Neal Hopps scored off a feed from Chris DeLuca to cut the lead to 12-11.

Kiekelbelt won the ensuing face-off and RIT was able to kill off the remainging time on the clock.

Cortland held a 37-30 edge on shots and a 39-33 groundball advantage. RIT won just 9-of-27 face offs, but were 14-of-18 on clearing attempts. RIT went 1-for-5 on the man advantage and held the Red Dragons scoreless in their only attempt.

RIT will host SUNY Geneseo on Saturday, April 2 at 4 p.m. on RIT's Turf FIeld.