POTSDAM, NY -- The RIT (3-5, 0-1 Liberty League) women's lacrosse team led early in the ssecond half before falling on the road to Clarkson University (7-1, 1-0 Liberty League) 11-9 in Liberty League action Friday afternoon. It was the conference opener for both teams.

The Tigers led early in the second half, but a five-goal run by Clakrson in the middle portion of the second stanza put the game out of reach. RIT scored two late goals to make the game tight, but ran out of time in the end.

Sage Sarkis (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) led RIT with six goals, five draw controls and a ground ball. Corrina Mandell (Corning, NY/Corning East), Emily Livecchi (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) and Maegen Schmauder each had a goal and an assist, and Syndey DaCosta added an assist.

Shots were 30-18 in favor of Clarkson. RIT won the ground ball battle, 13-12 and won 11 draw controls. The Tigers went 11-of-15 on clearing attempts, and were 3-for-5 on free position attempts.

Elizabeth Hughes (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) took the loss in net, making eight saves. Mandell led RIT with six draw controls, while Holly Leone (Centerport, NY/Harborfields) had three ground balls and caused two turnovers. Cassie Swan (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) scooped up three ground balls for the Tigers.

Kate Dillon led Clarkson with four points on three goals and an assist. Ashley Flick tallied three goals, and Taylor Collins had a goal and four assists. Samantha Gladd got the win in net for the Golden Knights, making six saves.

Clarkson took an early 2-0 lead on goals from Dillon and Christine Wright. Livecchi converted a free position attempt to pull RIT to within a goal at 2-1 early in the first half.

The Golden Knights tacked on a pair of goals from Dillon and Flick before Sarkis tallied two straight for RIT, pulling the Tigers to within 4-3 on her free position goal with 13:40 to play in the half. Stephanie Lynch took a pass from Collins and scored at the 12:05 mark, and Flick made it 6-3 Clarkson with her goal with 6:41 to play in the opening half.

Sarkis scored her third goal of the half with 1:13 to play to cut the Clarkson lead to 6-4 at the intermission. She would open the second half scoring three straight goals giving RIT its first lead of the game on her goal off an assist from Schmauder with 23:51 to play in regulation.

Collins answered back for Clarkson, tallying an unassisted goal at the 22:44 mark, tying the score at 7-7. That would start the run as Clarkson scored five straight goals over a 12:27 span. Casey Shannon scored with an extra attacker with 10:57 to play to give the Golden Knights an 11-7 lead.

RIT kept fighting, as Schmauder scored off an assist from Livecchi with 57 seconds to play in regulation to cut the lead to 11-8. Mandell won the ensuing draw and scored with 46 seconds to play to make it 11-9 Clarkson. Unfortunately for RIT, Clarkson killed off the remaining time to hang on for the win.

RIT returns to action on Saturday, April 2 when they face St. Lawrence University at 3 p.m. in Canton, N.Y.