AMHERST, MA – The No. 3 RIT (2-0) men's lacrosse team fought its way to a 9-7 win over No. 11 Bates College (0-1) on Saturday afternoon on the campus of UMass-Amherst.

Shots were 45-33 in favor of RIT, who fired 23 shots on target. Bates held a slight 21-20 ground ball edge, while the Tigers won 10-of-19 face-offs. The Tigers went 17-of-18 on clearing attempts, and were 0-for-2 on man-up.

Aidan Milburn (Vancouver, British Columbia/Sentinel Secondary), Kyle Killen (Peterborough, Ontario/Crestwood Secondary) and Cam Isaac (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) each had three points for RIT. Milburn tallied three goals, while Killen and Isaac each had two goals and an assist. Shawn Nally (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) tallied a goal and an assist, while Alex Maruna (Medina, OH/St. Ignatius) led RIT with three caused turnovers. Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) got the win in net, making 12 saves.

Matt Chlastawa led Bates with four points on two goals and two assists. Curtis Knapton tallied a goal and an assist for the Bobcats, while Rob Strain took the loss in net, making 14 saves.

Trailing 2-0 in the first quarter, Aidan Milburn (Vancouver, British Columbia/Sentinel Secondary) for RIT on the scoreboard with his goal with 8:48 to play in the quarter. He tied the game at 2-2 with 5:03 to play off an assist from Shawn Nally (Rochester, NY/McQuaid). The Tigers fired 13 shots in the first quarter, including seven on net. Cam Isaac (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) hit the crossbar late in the quarter. Hare made two key saves at the end of the quarter to keep the score tied at 2-2.

Killen gave RIT its first lead of the game with his man-up goal at the 13:14 mark of the second quarter. Eli Salam gave RIT a 4-2 lead on his transition goal at the 9:09 mark of the second quarter. Clarke Jones pulled the Bobcats to within a goal with his goal 36 seconds from halftime. The broke a scoreless run of nearly 25 minutes by Bates.

RIT got the ball back with 22 seconds to play in the half. After a time out to set up a play, Isaac buried a shot with four seconds to play in the half to give the Tigers a 5-3 lead.

Shots were 22-19 in favor of RIT during the opening half. The Tigers won 6-of-9 face-offs and were 9-of-10 on clearing attempts. Milburn led RIT with two goals, while Hare made eight saves for the Tigers. Jones scored two goals for the Bobcats.

Chlastawa cut the RIT lead to 5-4 with his goal at 12:45 of the third quarter, but Isaac made it two-goal advantage with his second goal of the game with 8:42 to play in the third. Curtis Knapton tacked on a late goal to cut the RIT lead to 6-5 heading into the fourth quarter.

Milburn extended the RIT lead to 7-5 with his third goal of the game with 11:42 to play in regulation off an assist from Killen. Chlastawa cut the lead to 7-6 on his goal off an assist from Knapon with 9:44 to play in regulation.

Kelleher tied the game at 7-7 on his goal off an assist from Chlastawa with 8:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. Killen answered for RIT, giving the Tigers an 8-7 lead with 6:22 to play off an assist from Isaac. Nally extended the RIT lead to 9-7 on his goal off an assist from Riley with 3:43 to play in regulation.

RIT returns to action on Wednesday, March 7 when the Tigers play Springfield College at the Carrier Dome on the campus of Syracuse University. Opening face-off is 6:30 p.m.