ROCHESTER, NY – No. 3 RIT men's lacrosse team (13-2, 5-1 Liberty League) rolled to a dominating 23-7 victory over Nazareth College (8-8, 5-1 Empire 8) at Tiger Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. The Tigers have won eight straight games overall, out-scoring their opponents 153-77 during that span.
Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) led all players with five points on three goals and two assists, while
Brendan MacDonald (Georgetown, Ontario/Trinity-Pawling) followed right behind with two goals and two assists.
Kyle Killen (Peterborough, ON/Crestwood Secondary ) had three points, on two goals and an assist, and nine other Tigers finished with a pair of points each. In all, 16 different Tigers scored goals, while 22 registered at least a point in the win. J.D. Hall,
Aidan Milburn (Vancouver, British Columbia/Sentinel Secondary),
Eli Salama (Coquitlam, British Columbia/Dr. Charles Best), Julian Guay,
John Hill (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas),
Ryan Agedal (LaFayette, NY/LaFayette),
Chad Levick (Newmarket, Ontario/Huron Heights Secondary),
Braden Wallace (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park), and
Jay Vakiener (Fairport, NY/Fairport) each had a pair of points, and 10 more Tigers added a point.
Luke Smeltzer (Halifax, NS/The Gunnery) scored his first collegiate goal in the victory.
Levick moves into a tie with Tyler Russell for tenth all-time at the university with 128 career goals.
In goal,
Nick Nesbitt (Burlington, Ontario/Salisbuury School) improved to 11-2 on the season. He started the game hot, coming up with some big saves to start the game. He made 10 saves in the first half alone, finishing with 11 overall in nearly 35 minutes of action, while allowing just three goals.
Jon Berg (Chester, NJ/Mendham) came in during the third quarter, and finished out the game, making five saves.
Paul Walter, Hunter Burdick, and Nick Arnold each had a goal and an assist, while Anthony Basile, Jacob Gray and Ben Bickford each scored a goal for the Golden Flyers. Alex Winkler got the start in goal, making three saves on 14 shots on goal. Andrew Leahey and Rick Kroenwett also saw action for Nazareth in net, making a combined eight saves on 20 shots on target.
After the Golden Flyers scored the opening goal 1:58 into the contest, the Tigers scored nine straight goals, en route leading 12-3 at the half. The Tigers led 7-1 after the first quarter, as Lee had two goals in the opening frame. RIT out-scored Nazareth, 5-2 in the second quarter, as MacDonald matched Lee with two of his own tallies in the second.
The Tigers put their feet on the pedal after halftime, scoring all seven goals in the third quarter. Wallace and Levick opened the third quarter scoring, before Lee scored his third goal of the game with 10:20 left in the third, making it 15-3. After goals by
Ben Tackett (Butler, PA/The Kiski School) and Killan, the Tigers emptied the bench, as many reserves saw valuable playing time.
Dave Shuster (Columbus, OH/St. Charles Prep) and Julian Guay added tallies in the third to make it 19-3, heading to the final quarter of play.
RIT led by as many as 19 goals, at 22-3, and was able to coast in the fourth quarter, equaling its largest win of the season. The Tigers even the all-time series between the two schools at 18-18 and have won 10 straight over the Golden Flyers.
The Tigers will now head to Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. on Saturday for their final regular season game of the year. RIT and Bard will get underway at 12 p.m. from Ferrari Lacrosse Complex. If RIT wins, they will clinch the No. 1 seed and home field advantage for the upcoming Liberty League Tournament.
