CORTLAND, NY — The No. 7 RIT (8-2) men's lacrosse team scored six fourth quarter goals en route to a 15-9 win over No. 5 and previously unbeaten SUNY Cortland (8-1) on Wednesday evening. Tied 9-9 in the fourth quarter, the Tigers scored the final six goals of the game to pull away for the win. It is the third straight win over a ranked opponent for RIT, and second straight over a previously unbeaten top-five foe. 

RIT's defense held the Red Dragons to nine goals, including four in the second half. Led by 15 saves from Nick Nesbitt (Burlington, Ontario/Salisbuury School) (6-2), the Tigers defensive unit held Cortland to just one goal in the third quarter, and a three-goal spurt early in the fourth.

Five Tigers scored at a pair of goals, led by senior Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) who tallied three goals and added an assist. Beau Riley (Homer, NY/Homer) dished out a career-high four assists, and Chad Levick (Newmarket, Ontario/Huron Heights Secondary) finished with four points on two goals and two assists. Brendan MacDonald (Georgetown, ON/Trinity-Pawling) and Cam Isaac (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) each had two goals and an assist, and Braden Wallace (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park) tallied a pair of goals.

Freshman Jimmy Spillane (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) won 15-of-26 face-offs, grabbed six ground balls and scored his first collegiate goal. Classmate Alex Maruna (Medina, OH/St. Ignatius) caused a team-high five turnovers, while senior JD Hall (Centennial, CO/Arapahoe) grabbed seven ground balls and scored a goal.

Jimmy Nielsen led Cortland with three goals. Danny Caroussos added two goals, while Tyler Brown dished out two assists. Joe Scalise took the loss in net, making 10 saves.

RIT led 3-2 after the first quarter. Levick, Isaac and Killen each scored for the Tigers in the quarter. Levick tied the game at 1-1 with his goal at 6:51 off a feed from Ben Tackett (Butler, PA/The Kiski School). After Cortland took the lead, Isaac scored on sweeping drive, tying the score at 2-2. Killen gave the Tigers their first lead of the game with his goal with 1:42 to play.

Cortland came back with three goals in the second quarter. Lee gave RIT a 4-2 lead on his goal early in the quarter off an assist from Alec Sovocool (Homer, NY/Homer). The Red Dragons countered with three straight goals. Caroussos scored with 9:36 to play to cut the RIT lead to 4-3. Andrew Gonzalez tied the game at 4-4 on his goal at the 8:20 mark of the quarter. Nielsen scored a man-up goal to give the Red Dragons a 5-4 lead late in the half. MacDonald scored for RIT with two seconds remaining in the half to tie the score at 5-5.

Shots were 21-14 in favor of Cortland in the first half. The Tigers won 8-of-11 face-offs, but committed 14 turnovers. Nesbitt made five saves in the opening half.

The RIT defense was stout in the third quarter, holding the Red Dragons to just one goal. The Tigers killed off a minute penalty and held strong on two long possessions by Cortland. 

The offense struck four times in the quarter. Jay Vakiener (Fairport, NY/Fairport) opened the half with a goal at 12:57 to give RIT a 6-5 lead. Lee made it 7-5 Tigers with his goal off an assist from Riley at 11:22. MacDonald gave RIT its largest lead of the game to that point, at 8-5 with his goal just 2:54 before the end of the quarter. 

Mike Hart broke the run for Cortland with his goal with 2:31 to play to cut the RIT deficit to 8-6. Levick scored with 29 seconds to play in the quarter to give RIT a 9-6 lead heading into the fourth.

The Red Dragons came out firing, scoring three quick goals to tie the score at 9-9. Caroussos cut the lead to 9-7 with his goal just 26 seconds into the quarter. Joey Panariello cut the RIT lead to 9-8 with his goal at 12:53, and Nielsen tied the game with goal at the 10:16 mark.

On the ensuing face-off, Hall scooped up the loose ball and streaked towards the Cortland net. He fired a shot into the corner of the net to break the Cortland run and give the Tigers momentum and the lead. That started the six-goal run by the Tigers to close out the game. Isaac made it 11-9 Tigers with his goal from Riley at 8:26.

Wallace scored two straight at 7:17 and 5:34 to extend the RIT lead to 13-9. Lee scored a nifty between-the-legs goal off an assist from Isaac with 3:15 to play, and Spillane scored his first collegiate goal with 2:56 to play to make it a 15-9 final.

Shots were 44-33 in favor of Cortland. The Red Dragons held a slight 35-31 ground ball edge. The Tigers went 14-of-22 on clearing attempts, and turned the ball over 18 times. The win is the sixth straight for the Tigers over the Red Dragons.

RIT returns to action on Saturday, April 8 when the Tigers face Skidmore College in Liberty League action from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Face-off is at 1 p.m.