ROCHESTER, NY – The No. 1 RIT men's lacrosse team (14-0, 6-0 Liberty League) made it 14 straight wins to start the 2018 season, knocking off Skidmore College (5-8, 1-5 Liberty League), 18-8 from RIT's Turf Field on Saturday afternoon. RIT honored its senior class before the game and celebrated 50 years as a program. 
 
With hundreds of alumni in attendance, including members of the original men's lacrosse team that played its first game in 80-degree weather on April 13, 1968, RIT jumped out to a 13-2 halftime lead, out-scoring the Thoroughbreds, 9-1 in the second quarter. The Tigers tacked on five goals in the second half.

Shots were 49-20 in favor of RIT. The Tigers won the ground ball battle 46-18 and won 23-of-28 face-offs. RIT went 9-of-11 on clearing attempts, and went 1-for-3 on its man-up chances.

Kyle Killen (Peterborough, Ontario/Crestwood Secondary) led RIT with six goals, giving him 53 on the season. Brendan MacDonald (Georgetown, Ontario/Trinity-Pawling) (2 goals, 2 assists) and Ryan Barnable (Whitby, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) (1G, 3A) each had four points. Quinn Commandant (Rockwood, Ontario/The Kiski School) (2G, 1A) and Shawn Nally (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) (1G, 2A) each tallied three points. Eli Salama (Coquitlam, British Columbia/Dr. Charles Best) had two assists, five ground balls and caused a turnover. Nate Farrell (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) won 14-of-15 face-offs and had seven ground balls. Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) got the win in net, making seven saves.

Jason Shlonsky led Skidmore with four goals. Will Lukas and Alex Miller each had a goal and an assist. Dylan Fleishmann took the loss in net, making 11 saves.

RIT led 4-1 after the first quarter on goals from MacDonald, Killen, Nally and Jay Vakiener (Fairport, NY/Fairport). Lukas tied the game at 1-1 on his goal midway through the opening quarter before RIT scored 12 of the next 13 goals. The Tigers scored the first four goals of the second quarter, taking an 8-1 lead on Killen's man-up goal at the 12:40 mark of the quarter. After a Skidmore goal made it 8-2, the Tigers rattled off five straight goals to end the half leading 13-2. Commandant, Ryan Tandy (Montrose, NY/Hendrick-Hudson), Beau Riley (Homer, NY/Homer), Cam Isaac (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) and Killen each tallied for the Tigers.

Vakiener, Commandant and MacDonald each scored in the third quarter. RIT took a 16-4 lead on MacDonald's goal with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter. Barnable and Killen tallied goals in the fourth quarter to make it an 18-8 final.

RIT has now won all seven all-time meetings against Skidmore. The Tigers have scored at least 17 goals in nine straight contests.
 
Before the game, RIT honored seniors Chandler Allen (Ilderon, ON/Medway), Farrell, Killen, Joey Menecola (Toronto, Ontario/Michael Power Catholic), Aidan Milburn (Vancouver, British Columbia/Sentinel Secondary), Riley, Eli Salama (Coquitlam, British Columbia/Dr. Charles Best), Ben Tackett (Butler, PA/The Kiski School), Zach Ursu (Mono, Ontario/The Kiski School) and Vakiener. This group has helped lead RIT to a 73-6 record over the last four seasons.
 
RIT is back in action next Saturday, April 21 with a road contest at No. 18 St. Lawrence University. Opening face-off from Canton will be at 1 p.m.
 
50 Years of RIT Men's Lacrosse

• First game as a program, April 13, 1968 at Hobart
• First win, April 17, 1968 at University of Rochester
• All-time record of 534-234, .695 winning percentage
• Won 17 league championships (EAA, Empire 8, Liberty League)
• Made 19 NCAA Tournament Appearances
• Seven trips to the NCAA Semifinals
• Appearances in the 2013 and 2017 NCAA National Championship games
• More than 100 USILA All-Americans
• 23 USILA First Team All-Americans
• 14 members of the RIT Sports Hall of Fame
• 10 different 200-point scorers
• 50 players with at least 100 career points