Men's Lacrosse | 5/2/2013 2:53:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The No. 3 RIT men's lacrosse team begins post-season play on Friday, May 3 when the Tigers host Union College in the semifinals of the 2013 Liberty League Lacrosse Championship at 4 p.m. at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers earned the top seed and home field advantage throughout the tournament by finishing the regular season 14-2 overall and 6-0 in conference play. The Dutchmen come into the weekend as the fourth seed with an 8-6 overall record, and finished the Liberty League regular season with a 3-3 mark.

The winner moves on to the Liberty League Championship on Sunday, May 5 at 12 p.m. versus the winner between second seeded St. Lawrence and third seed Clarkson. The game will be played at the highest remaining seed. Sunday's winner earns the automatic berth into the 2013 NCAA Division III Tournament.

RIT enters this weekend riding an eight-game winning streak. The Tigers are vying for their second straight Liberty League title in their second season in the conference, and a 15th trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers clinched the top seed in this weekend's tournament with a 9-8 win over No. 16 St. Lawrence last Saturday. Kyle Aquin (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean De Brebeuf) led the Tigers with three goals, while Taylor Wisman (Seattle, WA/Inglemoor) and Alec Sulesky (Medina, OH/Medina) each scored two goals. Pat Johnston (Long Beach, CA/Norwell (MA)) made 10 saves and Elliott Cowburn (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) caused five turnovers and had two ground balls to earn Liberty League Defensive Player of the Week.

RIT comes into the weekend averaging 14.88 goals per game, which leads the Liberty League and tied for 10th in all of Division III. RIT has outscored its opponents 238-109 this season and have scored in double figures in all but three games. RIT's man-up unit is tops in all of Division III, converting 36-of-66 (54.5%) chances on the season.

RIT features nine players with 10 or more points, six players with 20 or more points, five players with 40 or more points, and three players with 50 or more points on the season. 2013 Liberty League Offensive Player of the Year Jack Krzyston (Bedford, NH/Bishop Guertin) leads the team in scoring with 63 points on 39 goals and 24 assists. Krzyston led the Liberty League in scoring, averaging 4.00 points per game, to also earn Liberty League first team honors. First Team All-Liberty League selection Aquin is second on the team with 53 points and leads the Tigers and the league with 45 goals. Second team all-conference picks, Eddie Kiesa (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt), Allister Warren (Toronto, Ontario/Malvern Collegiate Institute) and Wisman are third, fourth and fifth respectively in scoring. Kiesa has 52 points (30g, 22a), Warren has 47 points (30g, 17a), and Wisman has 40 points (18g, 22a).

Defensively, RIT allows 6.81 goals per game. Johnston, the 2013 Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year, as the league and is 16th in Division III with a 6.39 goals against average, and is fourth nationally with a .662 save percentage to go along with a 14-2 record. First team all-conference defenseman, Cowburn, leads RIT with 17 caused turnovers and has 47 ground balls.

RIT has won 234-of-404 (57.9%) of their face offs led by junior second team All-Liberty League selection, Tyler Brooks-Lambert (Seneca Castle, NY/Midlakes) who is 31st in all of Division III winning 125-of-199 (62.8%) of his face-offs. Senior PJ Hart (Camillus, NY/West Genesee) is 85-of-163 (52.1%) on the season.

Union earned the fourth seed in this weekend's tournament with a 15-8 win over Skidmore last Saturday. Nolan Connors led the Dutchmen with five goals. Rob Santangelo had three goals and three assists, while Nate Greenberg had two goals and an assist. Stefan Basile picked up the win in net, making nine saves.

The Dutchmen come into Friday's semifinals averaging 9.5 goals per game and has outscored its opponents 133-112. Union's man-up unit has scored on 14-of-61 (23.0%) opportunities this season.

Union features seven players with 10 or more points and four players with at least 20 points led by Santangelo who has 27 points on 10 goals and 17 assists. Connors is second on the team in scoring with 25 points on 19 goals and six assists. Greenberg and Nolan Stauffer are tied for third in scoring with 21 points apiece. Greenberg has 16 goals and five assists, while Stauffer has 11 goals and 10 assists on the season.

Defensively, Union allows 8.0 goals per game and has held its opponents to 10 goals or less in 11 of its 14 games this season. Basile has started 13 games in net this season for the Dutchmen. He is 7-6 with a 7.89 goals against average and a .558 save percentage. Sophomore defenseman Adam Sands leads Union with 15 caused turnovers.

Union is 161-of-292 (55.1%) on face-offs this season. Senior Alan Stone has taken the majority of the draws, going 149-of-258 (57.8%) on the season.

RIT is 9-3 all time against Union.  The Tigers defeated the Dutchmen 14-7 back on March 17 in Schenectady, New York. Kyle Aquin (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean De Brebeuf) scored five goals for RIT, while Krzyston added four goals and an assist. Johnston got the win in net, allowing seven goals and making 14 saves. Connors and Greenberg each had two goals and an assist for Union.