OWINGS MILLS, MD -- The No. 3 RIT men's lacrosse team improved to 6-0 on the season with a 16-8 win over No. 14 Lynchburg College in its opening game of the Green Turtle Classic hosted by Stevenson University on Friday evening. The Tigers have now won 46 straight regular season games dating back to the 2013 season.

Shots were 47-40 in favor of RIT, who won the ground ball battle 36-25. The Tigers won 11-of-26 face-offs and went 15-of-19 on clearing attempts. The Tigers defense was excellent, holding the Hornets to eight goals, and forced Lynchburg to go just 7-of-17 on clearing attemtps.

"I thought it was a balanced effort tonight," said RIT head coach Jake Coon. "We did a great job riding and that led to some extra possessions. I thought our offense worked the ball around nicely tonight."

Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) led a balanced scoring attack with four points on three goals and an assist. Kyle Sterzin (Fairport, NY/Fairport) added two goals and an assist, while Chad Levick (Newmarket, Ontario/The Hill Academy), Matt Hossack (Port Perry, Ontario/Port Perry), Jay Vakiener (Fairport, NY/Fairport) and Alec Sulesky (Medina, OH/Medina) each scored two goals. In all, nine different Tigers tallied a goal.

Nick Nesbitt (Burlington, Ontario/Salisbuury School) got the win in net for RIT, making nine saves. Hossack also won 11-of-22 face-offs and grabbed eight ground balls to go along with his two goals. Jakob Krzyston (Bedford, NH/Bishop Guertin) and Sterzin each caused two turnovers for the Tigers, who forced the Hornets into seven turnovers. Alec Sovocool (Homer, NY/Homer), Josh Harris (St. Catharines, Ontario/Sir Winston Churchill) and Anthony Contento (Homer, NY/Homer) each had three ground balls.

Sulesky opened the scoring at 13:52 of the first quarter off an assist from Braden Wallace (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park) to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Austin Stewart tied the game at 1-1 on his first goal of the game at 13:15 of the opening quarter.

Levick and Lee tallied two straight goals for RIT, taking a 3-1 lead on Lee's 19th goal of the season at 3:15 of the quarter. Stewart tallied his second of the quarter, pulling Lynchburg to within 3-2 with 2:35 to play in the first.

The Tigers provided the only scoring in the second quarter, tallying four times. Cam Isaac (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the season just 25 seconds into the quarter. Sterzin scored two goals, and Hossack closed out the half with a goal off an assist from Ben Tackett (Butler, PA/The Kiski School) just 21 seconds before halftime.

Hossack opened the second half scoring on his sixth goal of the season giving RIT an 8-2 lead. Aaron Murphy tallied three straight goals for the Hornets in the third quarter, cutting the RIT lead to 8-5 on his man-up tally with 10:44 to play in the quarter.

The Tigers answered back with three straight goals of their own, taking an 11-5 lead on Vakiener's second goal of the game with 6:57 to play in the third. Sulesky and Lee also scored for the Tigers in that run.

Evan Lombardo broke the RIT run for Lynchburg on just his third goal of the season with 1:55 to play in the third. Levick took a feed from Sterzin and scored with 10 seconds to play in the third, giving RIT a 12-6 lead.

The Tigers tacked on four more goals in the fourth quarter. Vakiener, Lee, RIley and Drew Tosaya (Kenmore, WA/Inglemoor) all scored for RIT to make it a 16-8 final.

RIT returns to action on Saturday, March 19 when the Tigers face No. 5 Cabrini College at 5:30 p.m. on day two of the Green Turtle Classic.