SYRACUSE, NY -- Senior attack Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) became RIT's all-time leading scorer in program history, as the No. 8 men's lacrosse team (6-2) defeated No. 20 Middlebury College (3-5) 28-12 on Tuesday evening at the Carrier Dome on the campus of Syracuse University. The Tigers outscored the Panthers 19-2 in the second half, including 17 straight goals to end the game.

Lee tied his career-high with nine points on seven goals and two assists, giving him 297 career points. That total surpassed the previous mark of 293, held by RIT Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Dave Thering, who played at RIT from 2003-06. Lee set the record with his fifth goal and sixth point of the game with 4:08 to play in the second quarter.  Lee now has a RIT record 191 goals to go along with 106 assists and is just three points shy of becoming the first player in program history to score 300 in a career.

"It is an honor to become the all-time scorer at RIT," said Lee. "I definitely would not have been able to achieve this honor without the help of my teammates and coaches."

Chad Levick, Lee and Brendan McDonald combined to score 19 of RIT's 28 goals. Levick led RIT with a career-high 10 points on seven goals and three assists. Lee had nine points, and MacDonald tallied six points on five goals and an assist. Nine Tigers also scored once, including Nick Binnert (Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta), Jake Sproule (Rochester, NY/Penfield), and Ryan Agedal (LaFayette, NY/LaFayette), who each recorded their first collegiate goal.

Senior Jon Berg (Chester, NJ/Mendham) got the win in net, making 10 saves in 35 minutes of play, coming into relieve starter Nick Nesbitt, who played the first quarter. Nate Farrell (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) won 20-of-37 face-offs and had 13 ground balls. Denning Crenshaw (San Diego, CA/Helix), Patrick Hannigan, Ben Tackett and Chris Brown (Homer, NY/Homer) each caused two turnovers, while Hannigan finished with six ground balls.

Henry Riehl led Middlebury with three goals and three assists. AJ Kucinski tallied two goals, while John Simms dished out a pair of assists. Will Perry took the loss in net, making seven saves.

RIT, who entered the game having lost consecutive games for the first time in seven years, trailed 7-4 after the first quarter. RIT led 3-1 early on goals from Braden Wallace (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park), Lee and Levick. Middlebury would respond with six straight goals, taking a 7-3 lead on Jack Gould's goal with 1:05 to play in the quarter. Beau Riley (Homer, NY/Homer) scored with 17 seconds to play in the quarter to cut the Middlebury lead to 7-4.

Consecutive goals from Levick and Lee early in the second quarter cut the Middlebury lead to 7-6. After a Panther goal made the score 8-6, Lee scored two straight goals, pulling RIT even with 6:08 to play in the half off an assist from Aidan Milburn (Vancouver, British Columbia/Sentinel Secondary). After Middlebury took a 9-8 lead, Lee would respond with his record breaking fifth goal of the game to tie the game at 9-9 with 4:08 left in the half. Tied 9-9 late in the half, Gould struck again off an assist from Simms with 2:41 to play to give the Panthers a 10-9 halftime lead.

RIT would come out the locker room for the second half and put on one of its most dominant performances in program history, scoring 19 of the 21 total goals, including a remarkable run of 17 straight to end the game.
 
MacDonald and Levick opened the scoring for RIT in the third quarter with consecutive goals to start the half. Levick's goal off an assist from Tackett with 11:21 to play in the third gave RIT its first lead, 11-10, since the first quarter.
 
The Panthers answered right back with two straight goals of their own in 17 seconds, taking an 12-11 lead on Nick Peterson's goal at the 10:16 mark. That would be the final goal for Middlebury as RIT's defense clamped down.

MacDonald would tie the game at 12-12 on a feed from Levick and Lee would convert in close from MacDonald with 7:17 left in the third to give RIT a lead it would not relinquish. From there, the scoring came at a rapid pace, as Levick and MacDonald would combine to score the final six goals of the quarter, three apiece, to give the Tigers a commanding 19-12 lead. Three of the goals came in a span of 31 seconds, who two others were scored 20 seconds apart. MacDonald would score all five of his goals for the game in the third quarter.

Lee, Dave Shuster (Columbus, OH/St. Charles Prep), Levick, and Milburn scored in the first 4:11 of the fourth quarter to give RIT a 23-12 edge. Shawn Nally (Rochester, NY/McQuaid), Binnert, Sproule, Agedal and John Hill (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) each scored their first goals of the season to close out the scoring. It was the first collegiate goal for Binnert, Sproule and Agedal.

Shots were 60-35 in favor of RIT, who won the ground ball battle 54-41. The Tigers went 17-of-18 on clearing attempts and scored on its lone man-up chance. RIT's second half domination was evident, out-shooting the Panthers 35-12 overall.
 
The 10 goals in a quarter were the most since they equaled that feat against Bard last season and the 19 second half goals are a program record. RIT was two goals shy of tying the single-game program record of 30, set on May 3, 1997 vs. Niagara.
 
Lee, who broke the record on his fifth goal of the game late in the second quarter, finished the night with a career-high tying nine points on seven goals and two assists. He now has 296 career points on

RIT has won the last three meetings, all in the past three years between the two schools, and leads the all-time series vs, Middlebury, 3-2. RIT is now also 9-0 at the Carrier Dome over the last four seasons.
 
RIT is right back in action at 1 p.m. on Saturday, as No. 4 St. Lawrence University invades Tiger Stadium for a crucial Liberty League contest. It is RIT's Tiger Den event.