Men's Lacrosse | 4/30/2014 2:17:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The No. 1 RIT men's lacrosse team begins post-season play on Friday, May 2 when the Tigers host St. Lawrence University in the semifinals of the 2014 Liberty League Men's Lacrosse Championship at 4 p.m. from Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers earned the top seed and home field advantage throughout the tournament by finishing the regular season 16-0 overall and 6-0 in conference play. The Saints come into the weekend as the fourth seed with an 8-5 overall record, and finished Liberty League regular season play with a 3-3 mark.

The winner moves on to the Liberty League Championship on Sunday, May 4 at 12 p.m. versus the winner between second seeded Union College and third seed Rensselaer. The game will be played at the highest remaining seed. Sunday's winner earns the automatic berth into the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament.

RIT enters this weekend after completing a perfect 16-0 record in the regular season for the second time in three seasons. The Tigers are vying for their third Liberty League title in as many years, and a 16th trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Tigers clinched the top seed in this weekend's tournament with a 19-12 win over St. Lawrence last Saturday. Allister Warren (Toronto, Ontario/Malvern Collegiate Institute) led the Tigers with a career-high seven points on six goals and an assist, earning Liberty League Offensive Performer of the Week honors. Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) added four goals and an assist, while Eddie Kiesa (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) had a goal and two assists. Tyler Brooks-Lambert (Seneca Castle, NY/Midlakes) won a career-high 26-of-33 face-offs, dished out two assists and grabbed 10 ground balls, while Pat Johnston (Norwell, MA/Norwell) picked up the win in net for RIT, making six saves.
 
RIT comes into the weekend averaging 17.06 goals per game, which leads the Liberty League and is fourth in all of Division III. RIT has outscored its opponents 273-131 this season and have scored in double figures in all but one game. RIT's man-up unit is 20th nationally, converting 18-of-42 (42.8%) chances on the season.

RIT features 13 players with 10 or more points, and four players with 50 or more points led by Lee who leads the team in scoring with 61 points on 36 goals and 25 assists. He is second in the Liberty League, averaging 3.81 points per game and is fourth in the league averaging 2.25 goals per game. Casey Jackson (Victoria, BC/Claremont) is second on the team in scoring with 55 points on 44 goals and all assists, while Warren is third with 51 points on 22 goals and 29 assists. Aquin is fourth on the team with 50 points (34g, 16a), while Taylor Wisman (Seattle, WA/Inglemoor) is fifth with 36 points (24g, 12a).

Defensively, RIT allows 8.19 goals per game. Johnston has played the majority of minutes in net with an 11-0 record and a 9.40 goals against average, and a .604 save percentage. Senior Anthony DeLeo (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) has 5-0 record with a 7.47 goals against average and a .654 save percentage. Sophomore Matt Hossack (Port Perry, Ontario/Port Perry) is second on the team with 55 ground balls and leads the team with 27 caused turnovers.

RIT has won 267-of-446 (59.9%) of its face-offs led by senior Tyler Brooks-Lambert (Seneca Castle, NY/Midlakes) who is 31st nationally winning 220-of-347 (63.4%) of his face-offs, and is 14th in Division III averaging 8.50 ground balls per game.

The Saints come into Friday's semifinals third in the conference in scoring, averaging 10.92 goals per game and has outscored its opponents 142-119. St. Lawrence's man-up unit has scored on 18-of-41 (43.9%) opportunities this season.

St. Lawrence features seven players with 10 or more points led by Conor Healey who has 44 points on 28 goals and 16 assists. Tommy Hovey is second on the team in scoring with 36 points on 31 goals and five assists, and Vautour is third in scoring with 25 points on 10 goals and 15 assists.
 
Defensively, St. Lawrence allows 9.15 goals per game and has held its opponents to 10 goals or less in 9-of-13 games. Ford has started all 13 games in net this season for the Saints, with an 8-4 record with a 9.02 goals against average and a .547 save percentage. Freshman long-stick midfielder Caleb Kane leads St. Lawrence with 24 caused turnovers.

St. Lawrence is 152-of-296 (51.3%) on face-offs this season led by Ryan Brigham, who is 93-of-173 (53.8%) on the season.

RIT is 12-3 all time against St. Lawrence and have won three straight over the Saints since joining the Liberty League in 2012. The Tigers have won 26 straight home games dating back to 2012, and have a 21-1 mark against league foes since joining the conference in 2011.