FOXBOROUGH, MA – The No. 2 RIT men's lacrosse team (20-3) had its incredible season come to an end, falling 15-7 to No. 1 Salisbury University (22-1) in the 2017 NCAA Division III Championship in front of an announced crowd of 31,560 fans from Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
 
Salisbury won its second straight NCAA Championship and 12th in program history. The Sea Gulls defense did a tremendous job of containing the high-octane RIT offense, which had scored 299 goals over its last 15 games, all victories. RIT's seven goals were a season-low.
 
Salisbury out-shot RIT, 42-34, while holding a decisive 44-26 edge in ground balls. The Tigers won 14-of-25 face-offs, but turned the ball over 15 times to Salisbury's 10. Salisbury was 15-for-18 in clears, while RIT was 12-for-15. Salisbury was 2-for-6 on the man-up and did not take a penalty in the game.
 
"I give Salisbury total credit, said RIT head coach Jake Coon. "They played a complete game in all aspects, very disciplined. I give our guys a ton of credit for how we battled all season. We competed hard, but came up a few plays short today."
 
NCAA Championship Game Most Outstanding Player Carson Kalama led all players in scoring with five points on four goals and an assist. Josh Melton and Garrett Reynolds scored three goals apiece for the Sea Gulls, while Kevin McDermott had a goal and three assists and Nathan Blondino chipped in with a goal and two assists. In net, Colin Reymann made 12 saves to earn the win. Cory Berry caused three turnovers for the Sea Gulls, while Will Nowesnick and Aaron Leeds each had a pair of caused turnovers.
 
Senior Braden Wallace (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park) led RIT with a season-high four goals, giving him 34 on the season. Junior Jay Vakiener (Fairport, NY/Fairport) dished out a season-high three assists, while sophomore Cam Issac, and seniors Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) and Chad Levick (Newmarket, Ontario/Huron Heights Secondary) scored a goal apiece.
 
Lee, who was named the USILA's J.I. (Jack) Turnbull Award winner as the top attackman in Division III for the second time in three years, would finish the season with 111 points, a program record. He also finished his RIT career with 373 points on 237 goals and 136 assists. Lee is RIT's all-time leader in goals and points. Levick finished the season with 67 goals, second most in one season at the university and 98 points, tied for third. His 158 career goals are fourth all-time at the university. Wallace finished his RIT career with a program record 91 games played and 94 goals.
 
In goal, senior Nick Nesbitt (Burlington, Ontario/Salisbuury School) had his 14-game winning streak snapped, as he made eight saves. Classmate Jon Berg (Chester, NJ/Mendham) played the final 1:10. Jimmy Spillane (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) won 14-of-23 face-offs and had three ground balls, while Eli Salama (Coquitlam, British Columbia/Dr. Charles Best) added three ground balls. Ben Tackett (Butler, PA/The Kiski School), Nate Farrell (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Spillane, and Brendan McDonald each caused one turnover.
 
The Tigers would strike first, 1:23 into the contest, as Wallace would take a feed from Vakiener and from in close, rip home his 31st goal of the season. Reynolds and Melton would score goals 1:22 apart midway through the quarter to give the Sea Gulls a 2-1 lead. MacDonald would appear to tie the game on a nifty move in front, but would have it called back due to being in the crease. The first quarter would end with Salisbury holding a 2-1 lead.
 
Reymann would make three huge saves on point-blank chances to open the second quarter, keeping it a 2-1 game. Kalama (twice) and McDermott would score three consecutive goals 1:55 apart to give Salisbury a 5-1 lead.
 
Issac would break the Salisbury run, scoring RIT's first goal in nearly 21 minutes of play with a flag down to pull the Tigers within 5-2. Lee would bury his 65th goal of the season on the next possession, taking a nifty feed from Vakiener to make it 5-3 with 5:43 left in the half.
 
Nesbitt would make his best save of the half with just under four minutes left, robbing Blondino, who came out from behind the cage and had an open look. RIT would block the next shot and gain possession. On the ensuing possession, Vakiener would once again serve as the distributor, rolling to the cage, faking a shot, and feeding Wallace, who was all alone in front to bury his second goal of the game to make it 5-4 Sea Gulls. Reynolds would score his second goal of the game with 1:28 left in the opening half, giving Salisbury a 6-4 lead heading into the break.
 
Salisbury would hold a 19-13 edge in shots and 18-15 advantage in ground balls over the opening 30 minutes. The Tigers won 7-of-12 draws and were a perfect 7-for-7 in clears, but turned the ball over nine times, including seven in the opening quarter.
 
The Sea Gulls would take control in the third quarter, out-scoring RIT 6-2 to take a commanding 12-6 lead after 45 minutes of play. Reymann made two big saves to start the half, as RIT tried to cut the deficit to a goal. Melton would tally his second of the game with 12:43 left to make it 7-4, before Wallace cut the lead to 7-5 with his third goal of the game on a hidden-ball trick.
 
Salisbury would keep coming however, scoring three straight, as RIT ran into penalty problems to make it a 10-5 game. Levick would score on a rebound off a shot by Wallace with 1:59 left in the quarter to make it 10-6, but the Sea Gulls would answer, scoring twice before the quarter would end to make it 12-6.
 
The Tigers would try to forge a rally early in the fourth quarter, as Wallace scored his fourth of the game and 34th of the season with 13:16 left to make it 12-7 Salisbury. RIT would win the ensuing face-off and get a golden look at the cage, but have a shot blocked. Salisbury would pick up the loose ball and beat RIT in transition, as Kalama scored his fourth goal of the game and 69th of the season to up the Sea Gulls lead back to six goals.
 
Salisbury would maintain possession for a good chunk of the final quarter and add on to the lead with goals by Brendan Bromwell and Blondino to close out the scoring.
 
RIT advanced to the NCAA Championship for the second time in program history having also reached in 2013. RIT is 24-19 overall in 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 18-8 mark over the last eight seasons under Coon.
 
RIT won 20 times for the third time in program history and scored 392 goals, second most in one season (394 in 2015).
 
Today marked the first meeting between the two schools. The Tigers defeated John Carroll, No. 13 Stevenson, No. 8 SUNY Cortland, No. 4 Wesleyan in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. RIT would play 14 games against teams ranked in the USILA Division III top-20 poll this season, going 12-2.
 
Today marked the final game for RIT's 15 seniors. The senior class enjoyed an incredible four-year run at the university, going 80-7 over the last four seasons. The 80 wins are a program record over a four-year span.

"This group (of seniors) has given us an incredible four years," said Coon. "They did a great job of showing leadership all season, getting us to the title game. They're a special group."