Men's Lacrosse | 3/23/2015 3:20:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The No. 2 RIT men's lacrosse team will play two road games this week. The Tigers will face No. 13 Middlebury College on Wednesday, March 25 at Homewood Field on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, and Bard College on Saturday, March 28 in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

RIT enters Wednesday's game 7-0 on the season after a pair of convincing wins last week. Wednesday, the Tigers downed St. John Fisher College, 18-4, while Saturday, RIT opened Liberty League play with a 16-7 win at Clarkson.
 
The Tigers jumped out to a 5-1 first-quarter lead, en route to an 18-4 win over cross-town rival, St. John Fisher College. Eddie Kiesa (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) led RIT with seven points on three goals and four assists, while Kyle Sterzin (Fairport, NY/Fairport) tallied four goals and Allister Warren (Toronto, Ontario/Malvern Collegiate Institute) netted three. Pat Johnston (Norwell, MA/Norwell) got the win in net for the Tigers, making 12 saves.

On Saturday, Kyle Aquin (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean De Brebeuf) scored five goals and dished out an assist as RIT opened Liberty League play with a 16-7 win at Clarkson. Aquin tallied five goals, while Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) finished with three goals and two assists. Warren and Kiesa each tallied two goals, and Brad Gillies (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) had a goal and two assists.

Aquin is tenth all time in program history in scoring with 176 career points, passing Craig Whipple (173 points). He is currently tied for fifth all time with Marc Heagney with 142 career goals.

The Tigers come into the week averaging 15.7 goals per game, outscoring their opponents 110-55. RIT features one of the deadliest man-up offenses in the NCAA, converting 16-of-24 chances. Lee leads the team in scoring with 28 points on 19 goals and nine assists. Kiesa is second with 26 points on 13 goals and 13 assists, while Warren is third with 22 points on 13 goals and nine assists. Brad Gillies (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) leads the team with 15 assists.

Defensively, RIT allows 7.86 goals per game and have stopped its opponent's man-up 22-of-31 times. Junior long-stick midfielder Matt Hossack (Port Perry, Ontario/Port Perry) leads the team with 36 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers. Johnston had played the majority of the minutes in net, posting a 7-0 record with an 8.48 goals against average and a .587 save percentage.

Middlebury comes into the week 6-1 overall and ranked No. 13 in this week's USILA Division III coach's poll. Last time out, the Panthers defeated Bowdoin, 13-7. Jack Rautiola led the Panthers with three goals and an assist. Jon Broome dished out five assists, while Will Ernst got the win in net making 11 saves. Middlebury is outscoring its opponents, 81-47 this season. The Panthers are 11-for-30 on man-up opportunities, while holding opponents to four man-up goals in 14 chances. Broome and Rautiola lead the team in scoring with 21 points apiece. Ernst is 6-1 for Middlebury with a 9.89 goals against average and a .572 save percentage.

Bard enters the week 2-3 overall. The Raptors fell to No. 3 Union, 15-4 last Saturday. Blake Burnley led Bard with three goals. John Henry Glascock took the loss in net for the Raptors, making 20 saves. Bard enters the week averaging 7.0 goals per game. The Raptors are being outscored by their opponents, 46-35, and are 4-of-22 on man-up chances. John Palermo leads the team in scoring with 17 points on 14 goals and three assists. Burnley is second with eight points and seven goals, while Mat Livermore is third with seven points on seven goals. Glascock has played every minute in net, posting a 9.20 goals against average, a .582 save percentage and a 2-3 record.
 
Middlebury is 2-0 all time versus RIT. These two teams have not met since the 2000 season in the NCAA Tournament. This will be the first-ever meeting between RIT and Bard.