Men's Lacrosse | 5/12/2017 2:13:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The No. 2 RIT (17-2) men's lacrosse team continues play in the 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship when the Tigers will host No. 13 Stevenson University (14-5) in the third-round Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. from Tiger Stadium. The winner advances to the quarterfinals and will play the winner between St. Lawrence and SUNY Cortland on Wednesday, May 17.

RIT advanced to the third round after a convincing 29-8 win over John Carroll in Wednesday's second round game. Chad Levick (Newmarket, Ontario/Huron Heights Secondary) led the Tigers with seven points on five goals and two assists. Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy), Dave Shuster (Columbus, OH/St. Charles Prep) and John Hill (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) each scored three goals. Nick Nesbitt (Burlington, Ontario/Salisbuury School) got the win in net, making five saves. Jimmy Spillane (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) won 21-of-31 draws and had eight ground balls.
 
RIT enters this afternoon fourth in Division III in scoring, averaging 17.42 goals per game. The Tigers are out-scoring their opponents 331-180 and are 23-of-57 (40.3 percent) with the man-advantage. RIT has scored 20 or more goals six times, including five of its last six contests. The Tigers have won 12 straight games, scoring 245 goals in that stretch.
 
The Tigers feature 15 players with 10 or more points, 11 with 10 or more goals and four players with 40 or more points. Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) leads the team and is 23rd in Division III in scoring with 91 points on 53 goals and 38 assists. Chad Levick (Newmarket, Ontario/Huron Heights Secondary) is second in scoring with 77 points on 52 goals and 25 assists. Braden Wallace (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park) and Kyle Killen (Peterborough, ON/Crestwood Secondary ) are tied for third with 43 points apiece.
 
Defensively, RIT allows 9.47 goals per contest, holding its opponents to fewer than 10 goals 12 times. The Tigers are 322-of-570 (56.5 percent) from the face-off "X" and are averaging 42.0 ground balls and 11.8 caused turnovers per contest.
 
Jimmy Spillane (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) has taken the majority of RIT's face-offs, winning 168-of-306 (54.9 percent) this season. Patrick Hannigan (Hanover, MA/Hanover) leads the team with 56 ground balls. J.D. Hall leads the team with 26 caused turnovers, while Hannigan is second with 25. Nick Nesbitt (Burlington, Ontario/Salisbuury School) is 15-2 in net this season with a 9.87 goals against average and a .563 save percentage.
 
Stevenson has won four straight games, including a 19-6 victory over No. 20 Nazareth in the Second-Round Wednesday. Kyle D'Onofrio led the Mustangs with five points on four goals and an assist. Brandon Watson and Sean Ohlhaver each had two goals and two assists, while Ross Dinan got the win in net, making 11 saves.
 
The Mustangs enter today averaging 14.95 goals per game, out-scoring their opponents 284-153 on the season. Stevenson is 25-of-86 (29.1 percent) on its man-up chances and have scored 10 or more goals 16 times.
 
J.T. Thelen is one eight players with 10 or more points, and one of two Mustangs with 70 or more points. He leads the team with 79 points on 53 goals and 26 assists. D'Onofrio is second with 72 points on 49 goals and 23 assists. Wade Korvin is third with 52 points. 
 
Defensively, the Mustangs allow 8.05 goals per contest. Stevenson has won 293-of-489 (59.9 percent) of its face-offs, and average 39.3 ground balls and 10.15 caused turnovers per game.
 
Justin Burnette has taken the majority of the draws, winning 206-of-326 (63.2 percent) this season. He leads the team with 81 ground balls, while Dominic DaFazio has 43 caused turnovers. Dinan is 14-5 with an 8.07 goals against average and a .490 save percentage.

The two teams met earlier in the season, with RIT beating the Mustangs 16-13. Lee led RIT with a career-high nine points on five goals and four assists. D'Onofrio tallied five goals and added an assist. RIT is 4-3 all-time versus the Mustangs, having won the last four games. Stevenson's last win was a 16-14 win in the 2013 NCAA Division III Championship Game in Philadelphia, Pa.