Men's Lacrosse | 5/16/2014 10:19:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The No. 1 RIT men's lacrosse team (20-0) will face No. 6 Tufts University (19-2) in the semifinals of the 2014 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship on Sunday, May 18 at 2 p.m. at Tiger Stadium. Ticket prices for Sunday's game are $5 for adults, $3 for students, and $1 for children and will be available at Tiger Stadium.
 
The Tigers, ranked first in this week's USILA Division III poll, advanced to the semifinals for the second straight season, third time in four years and seventh time overall with an 11-6 win over Union on Wednesday. Goalie Pat Johnston (Norwell, MA/Norwell) was outstanding in net for the Tigers, making a career-high 24 saves. It was the most saves by a RIT goalie in a game since Chris James made 32 saves versus Nazareth in 2001. Casey Jackson (Victoria, BC/Claremont), Kyle Aquin (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean De Brebeuf), Jack Krzyston (Bedford, NH/Bishop Guertin), and Eddie Kiesa (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) each had two goals.

RIT is in the NCAA Tournament for the 16th time in school history. Last season, the Tigers made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championship Game, defeating three top-five teams (Cabrini, Tufts and SUNY Cortland) en route to the title game. Overall, RIT is 16-15 all time in NCAA Tournament games.
 
The Jumbos are appearing in their fourth national semifinals in five years after a dominating 15-5 win over Cortland State in the quarterfinals. Down 4-3 at the end of the first quarter, the Jumbos scored the next 12 goals en route to the win. Beau Wood scored five goals and the Jumbos received a stellar defensive effort led by 14 saves from senior goalie Patton Watkins. John Uppgren and Cole Bailey had four and three goals, respectively for Tufts.
 
The winner advances to the National Championship Game on Sunday, May 25 and will face the winner between Salisbury State and Washington College (Md.) who play on Sunday in Salisbury, Md.
 
RIT comes into Sunday third in Division III in scoring, averaging 16.8 goals per game. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 336-165 this season and have scored 15 or more goals in 15 games, setting a school record for goals in a season with 336. RIT's man-up unit is 10th nationally, converting 24-of-55 (43.6%) chances on the season.

RIT features 14 players with 10 or more points, and three players with 60 or more points led by 2014 Liberty League Rookie of the Year Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) who has 72 points on 45 goals and 27 assists. Casey Jackson (Victoria, BC/Claremont) is second on the team in scoring with 70 points on 53 goals and 17 assists, while Allister Warren (Toronto, Ontario/Malvern Collegiate Institute) is third with 59 points on 28 goals and 31 assists. Kyle Aquin (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean De Brebeuf) is fourth on the team with 60 points (41g, 19a). Jackson's 53 goals are tied for eighth most in a season at RIT.

Defensively, RIT allows 8.25 goals per game. Johnston has played the majority of minutes in net with a 15-0 record, a 9.20 goals against average, and a .622 save percentage. Sophomore Matt Hossack (Port Perry, Ontario/Port Perry) is second on the team with 75 ground balls and leads the team with 37 caused turnovers.

RIT has won 329-of-555 (59.3%) of its face-offs led by senior Tyler Brooks-Lambert (Seneca Castle, NY/Midlakes) who ranks 34th nationally winning 275-of-446 (61.7%) of his draws. His 275 face-off wins this season breaks the school record previously set by Mike Wojnovich (269) 26 years ago. Brooks-Lambert is 15th in Division III averaging 8.4 ground balls per game.

Tufts enters Sunday's semifinals contest tops in Division III in scoring, averaging 18.75 goals per game and has outscored its opponents 390-208 this season.  The Jumbos man-up unit is 39-of-107 (36.4%) this season.

The Jumbos feature 12 players with 10 or more points, and four players with 85 or more points led by Uppgren who leads the way with 116 points on 60 goals and 56 assists. He is fifth in the country, averaging 5.5 points per game. Bailey is second in scoring with 106 points on 47 goals and 59 assists, and is tied for seventh nationally, averaging 2.8 helpers per game. Wood is third in scoring with 93 points on 65 goals and 28 assist and Chris Schoenhut is second in Division III, averaging 3.9 goals per game and had 79 goals on the season.
 
Defensively, Tufts allows 9.91 goals per game and has held its opponents to 10 goals or fewer in 12 times. Watkins has played the majority of the minutes in net with an 18-2 record, 10.10 goals against average and a .585 save percentage. Blake Wood leads the team with 19 caused turnovers, while Connor Helfrich is winning 57.6% (285-of-495) of his draws and has 176 ground balls.
 
RIT is 1-2 all time versus Tufts. It is the fourth straight season the Tigers will face the Jumbos in the NCAA Tournament. In 2011, Tufts ended RIT's undefeated season with a 16-12 win in the national semifinals on RIT's Turf Field. In 2012, Tufts defeated RIT, 15-13 in the quarterfinals. Last year, The Tigers defeated the Jumbos by a score of 14-5 in the quarterfinals from Tiger Stadium. Kiesa, Jack Krzyston (Bedford, NH/Bishop Guertin) and Aquin had four points each in last years win, while Johnston made 15 saves.

RIT has now won 30 straight home contests and is 74-7 over the last four years. RIT set a school record by winning its 20th game of the season Wednesday.