Men's Lacrosse | 1/8/2014 1:04:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT men's lacrosse team is second in the Lacrosse Magazine 2014 Division III preseason poll and the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III preseason poll.

The Tigers, who were the Division III national runner-up in 2013, finished last season with a 19-3 record advancing to the title game for the first time in the program's history. RIT won its second straight Liberty League Tournament title, fourth straight conference title, and made its 15th appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Fifth year head coach Jake Coon, the 2013 Intercollegiate Men's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IMLA) Coach of the Year, returns the top five scorers from a year ago led by first team All-American and Liberty League Player of the Year Jack Krzyston (Bedford, NH/Bishop Guertin) who posted 81 points on 52 goals and 29 assists. Honorable mention All-American Eddie Kiesa (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) was second in scoring with 77 points, and second team All-American Kye Aquin was third in scoring with 75 points and led the team with 65 goals.

Defensively, RIT returns second team All-American goalie Pat Johnston (Long Beach, CA/Norwell (MA)) between the pipes. He finished the 2013 with a 19-3 record, a 7.23 goals against average and a .635 save percentage. Senior Joe Dupra (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon), along with junior Baird Wilbur and sophomore's Matt Hossack (Port Perry, Ontario/Port Perry) and Jay Krzyston (Bedford, NH/Bishop Guertin) will lead a young but talented defense.

RIT kicks off the season on Feb. 22 with a re-match of the 2013 Division III Championship game with preseason No. 1 Stevenson at the Carrier Dome on the campus if Syracuse University. The Tigers return home to face No. 17 Ithaca College on March 1, and will face five teams ranked in the preseason top 20, including #3 SUNY Cortland (March 12), #10 Western New England March 15), #11 Nazareth (April 9)

2014 Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Top-20 Poll:
1) Stevenson
2) RIT
3) SUNY Cortland
4) Salisbury
5) Dickinson
6) Tufts
7) Cabrini
8) Roanoke
9) Washington College
10) Western New England University
11) Nazareth
12) Lynchburg
13) Washington & Lee
14) Stevens
15) Denison
16) St. Mary's
17) Ithaca
18) Wesleyan
19) Widener
20) Gettysburg

2014 USILA Division III Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
1) Stevenson - 412 (13)     
2) RIT - 407 (8)           
3) SUNY Cortland - 372           
4) Tufts - 339            
5) Salisbury - 338              
6) Cabrini - 284       
7) Dickinson - 271             
8) Roanoke - 268    
9) Washington College - 225    
10) Nazareth - 217     
11) Lynchburg - 203    
12) W. New England - 166     
13) Stevens - 149   
14) Washington & Lee - 148    
15) Denison - 121    
16) Wesleyan - 101   
17) Ithaca - 64   
18) St. Mary's - 63   
19) Middlebury - 61   
20) Gettysburg - 53