Men's Lacrosse | 4/27/2013 2:09:00 PM

Box Score

ROCHESTER, NY -- The No. 3 RIT (14-2, 6-0 Liberty League) men's lacrosse team held on to beat No. 16 St. Lawrence University (10-4, 5-1 Liberty League), 9-8 in the regular season finale on a sun-drenched Tiger Stadium Saturday afternoon. With the win, RIT wins the Liberty League regular season title for the second straight year.

Kyle Aquin (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean De Brebeuf) led RIT with three goals. Freshman Alec Sulesky (Medina, OH/Medina) and junior Taylor Wisman (Seattle, WA/Inglemoor) each scored two goals, and Allister Warren (Toronto, Ontario/Malvern Collegiate Institute) had a goal and two assists. Pat Johnston (Long Beach, CA/Norwell (MA)) picked up his 14th win of the season, making 10 saves.

Mac Johnson led St. Lawrence with four goals. Davey Hovey had two goals and two assists for the Saints, and Jack Nuland took the loss in net, allowing nine goals and making seven saves.

RIT held a 33-29 shot advantage, and won the ground ball battle 31-28. The Tigers were 14-of-16 on clearing attempts and did not have a man-up attempt. St. Lawrence was 14-of-21 on clearing attempts and went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

RIT led 3-2 after the first quarter on goals from Aquin, Eddie Kiesa (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) and Sulesky. Mac Johnson scored twice for the Saints in the opening quarter to make it one-goal game.

The Tigers outscored the Saints 4-2 in the second quarter, taking a 7-4 lead into halftime. Aquin struck twice for RIT and Sulesky and Wisman each scored to give the Tigers a 7-3 lead. Pierson Fowler intercepted a clearing pass from Johnston right in front of the RIT net, and scored with five seconds to play in the half to make it 7-4 RIT.

The Saints took the momentum into the second half, scoring the first two goals of the third quarter. Hovey made it 7-5 early in the third on his ninth goal of the season. Alden Frelinghuysen made it 7-6 RIT with 11:32 to play in the third quarter.

Warren broke the run by St. Lawrence, tallying his 30th goal of the season with five seconds to play in the third to give RIT an 8-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Wisman scored on a sharp-angled shot with 6:26 to play in the fourth quarter to give RIT a 9-6 lead. RIT's defense held St. Lawrence scoreless over a 22:21 stretch before Johnson scored his fourth of the game with 4:11 to play to make it 9-7 RIT.

Hovey made it 9-8 Tigers on his tenth goal of the season with 33 seconds to play in regulation.

The Saints won the ensuing face-off and had a chance to tie when Jeremy Vautour ripped a shot from the top of the box that just sailed over the top of the net. St. Lawrence tried to throw the ball in front, but the shot came too late as the buzzer sounded and time ran out.

Elliott Cowburn (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) had five of RIT's 11 caused turnovers and had two ground balls to lead a stout RIT defense. Luke Wolfe (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North) and Joe Dupra (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) had two and one caused turnover respectively, while PJ Hart (Camillus, NY/West Genesee) won 8-of-11 face-offs and had three ground balls.

RIT will host the Liberty League semifinals next Friday at TIger Stadium. The Tigers await their opponent.