Men's Lacrosse | 5/4/2017 10:25:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The No. 3 RIT men's lacrosse team begins post-season play on Friday, May 5 in the 2017 Liberty League Men's Lacrosse Championship. The Tigers, as the top seed, host fourth-seeded Clarkson University in the semifinals at 4 p.m. from Tiger Stadium.

RIT finished 6-1 in conference play, tying St. Lawrence for the regular season title. The Tigers earned the top seed and home field advantage throughout the tournament by virtue of a tie-breaker over St. Lawrence. Clarkson finished the regular season 4-3 in conference play, earning the fourth seed with a 15-11 win over Rensselaer in the regular season finale last weekend.

The winner moves on to the Liberty League Championship on Sunday, May 7 at 12 p.m. to face the winner between second seeded St. Lawrence University and third seed Vassar College. The championship game will be played at the highest remaining seed, with the winner earning the automatic berth into the 2017 NCAA Division III Tournament.

RIT is vying for its sixth straight Liberty League title, and a 19th trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have won seven straight league titles, including five straight Liberty League titles from 2012-16 and two Empire 8 titles in 2010 and 2011. RIT is gunning for its eighth straight NCAA Tournament berth.
 
The Tigers clinched the top seed in the 2017 tournament with a 28-2 win over Bard College in the regular season finale last Saturday. Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) tallied four goals, while Shawn Nally (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) and John Hill (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) each scored three goals. In all, 16 Tigers scored a goal. The 28 goals equaled the Tigers season-high.
 
RIT enters Friday as the top scoring team in the Liberty League and sixth in Division III, averaging 16.81 goals per game. The Tigers are out-scoring their opponents 269-150 this season, and are third in the league converting 40.0 percent (18-for-45) of their man-up chances.

RIT features 15 players with 10 or more points, and nine players with 20-plus points. Eight players have scored 14 or more goals, including two players with 40-plus goals. Lee, RIT's all-time leading scorer, leads the team with 74 points on 42 goals and 32 assists. He leads the Liberty League in points, and is second averaging 4.63 points per game. Chad Levick (Newmarket, Ontario/Huron Heights Secondary) is second on the team in scoring with 62 points on 40 goals and 22 assists. He is fourth in the league in points, while averaging 2.50 goals per game. Braden Wallace (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park) is third in scoring with 40 points, and Kyle Killen (Peterborough, ON/Crestwood Secondary ) is fourth on the team with 36 points.

The Tigers enter the weekend fifth in the league, allowing 9.37 goals per contest, and lead the league in ground balls (40.38 per game) and caused turnovers (11.81 per game).

Goalie Nick Nesbit is 12-2 on the season and is sixth in the league with a 9.73 goals against average, and fourth with a .552 save percentage. Jon Berg (Chester, NJ/Mendham) is 2-0 on the season and is fifth with a 9.62 goals against average and leads the Liberty League with a .582 save percentage.

RIT has won 56.6 percent (266-of-470) of its face-offs led by senior Steven Ricci (Rochester, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) who has won 77-of-123 (62.6%) draws. Freshman Jimmy Spillane (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) has taken the majority of the draws, winning 141-of-260 (54.2%) this season. Patrick Hannigan (Hanover, MA/Hanover) leads the team with 49 ground balls, and caused turnovers with 21. Midfielder Ben Tackett (Butler, PA/The Kiski School) has 48 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers to go along with eight goals and 14 points.
 
Clarkson enters Friday's semifinal having won three of its last five games, including two in a row. The Golden Knights are third in the Liberty League in scoring, averaging 11.14 goals per game and have out-scored their opponents 156-126. Clarkson is fifth in the league converting 38.7 percent (29-of-75) of its man-up chances.  

Clarkson features six players with 10 or more points led by Ryan DaRin who has 51 points on 42 goals and nine assists. Ryan St. Croix is second in scoring with 38 points and 30 goals, while Conor Bartlett is third with 37 points, and leads the team with 22 assists.
 
The Golden Knights are third in the league defensively, allowing 9.00 goals per game. Clarkson has held its opponents to 10 goals or less six times, including RIT, who the Golden Knights held to six goals on March 25.

Clarkson leads the league winning 58.8 percent (190-of-323) of its face-offs. Ryan Gabriel has taken the majority of draws, winning 173-of-288 (60.1 percent) of his face-offs. He leads the team with 60 ground balls, while Justin Gibson leads the team with 17 caused turnovers. Nick Strandholm has seen the majority of minutes in net for Clarkson. The senior has played in all 14 games, posting an 8-5 record. Strandholm is fourth in the league with a 9.03 goals against average, and ninth with a .544 save percentage.

RIT is 28-15 all time against Clarkson. On March 25, Clarkson snapped RIT's 39-game winning streak versus Liberty League opponents dating back to 2012, 9-6 at Potsdam. The six goals scored was the fewest RIT has scored in eight years. Prior to the loss, the Tigers had beaten Clarkson 10 straight times. Bartlett led Clarkson with four points on two goals and two assists. St. Croix tallied three goals, while Strandholm was excellent in net, making 21 saves.
 
St. Lawrence, seeded second in the tournament, enters the weekend 14-1 overall and ranked in a tie for fifth in this week's Nike/USILA Division III Poll. The Saints have won seven straight games, including a 15-7 victory over Skidmore last weekend. St. Lawrence is second in the league in scoring, averaging 13.93 goals per game, and boasts the stingiest defense in the conference, allowing 6.49 goals per contest. RIT is 23-14 all-time versus St. Lawrence, including a 19-12 win over the Saints on April 1.

Vassar comes into the weekend as the third seed. The Brewers are 11-4 overall and earned a tournament berth with the program's first win over Union last Saturday. Sam Houston-Read scored five goals in the 20-10 win. Vassar enters the weekend fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 10.87 goals per game. The Brewers are second in the conference allowing 8.47 goals per game. RIT is 6-0 all time versus Vassar, including a 21-8 win on Senior Day at Tiger Stadium on April 29.