ROCHESTER, NY -- The top-ranked RIT (19-0) men's lacrosse opened play in the 2018 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship with a resounding 26-3 win over New England College (16-5) at sun-drenched Tiger Stadium Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers advance to the third round where they will play the winner between Stevens Institute of Technology and Springfield College on Saturday, May 12.

RIT dominated in all phases of the game Wednesday, outshooting the Pilgrims 59-12. The Tigers grabbed 56 ground balls and won 24-of-33 face-offs. RIT went 18-of-18 on clearing attempts, and 1-of-2 on man-up chances. The Tigers set a program record by assisting on all 26 goals, and tied a single-game mark with 52 points.

Ryan Tandy (Montrose, NY/Hendrick-Hudson) tallied a career-high nine points on five goals and four assists, all in the first 21 minutes of the game. Kyle Killen (Peterborough, Ontario/Crestwood Secondary) tallied first-half five goals, while Ryan Barnable (Whitby, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) finished with three goals and three assists. In all, 14 different Tigers tallied a goal and 18 players had at least one point. Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) got the win in net, making two saves. Matt Pogue (Mississauga, Ontario/St. Paul Secondary) led the Tigers with four caused turnovers, while Nate Farrell (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Nick Montemorano (Victor, NY/Victor) won 10 face-offs apiece.

Matt Richard, who came into the game as the highest scorer in Division III with 132 points, was held to just one goal. Charles Hacking and Patrick Storie also scored for the Pilgrims, William Platt took the loss in net, making 14 saves. New England advanced to play RIT after defeating Albion College, 10-9 in overtime in a first round contest from Tiger Stadium on Tuesday.

RIT led 9-1 after the first quarter, and 17-2 at the half. Tandy scored the first two goals of the game to give RIT a 2-0 lead. Storie answered for NEC with his goal at the 9:16 mark of the quarter. The Tigers ran off seven straight goals over the final 5:23 of the opening quarter to extend their lead to 9-1. Tandy scored all five of his goals in the first quarter, while Killen tallied twice.

Richard scored for New England College early in the second quarter that cut the RIT lead to 10-2, but the Tigers poured it on to end the half scoring seven straight goals to lead 17-2. Killen scored three goals in the quarter, while Zach Ursu (Mono, Ontario/The Kiski School), Quinn Commandant (Rockwood, Ontario/The Kiski School) and Luke Henderson (Hespeler, Ontario/St. Benedict's Catholic) each scored in the quarter.

RIT tacked on seven goals in the third quarter, including three from Barnable, while Ryan Agedal (LaFayette, NY/LaFayette) and Dawson Tait (Ottawa, Ontario/Mother Teresa) each scored in the fourth quarter to make it a 26-3 final.

"We came out and played a complete game today," said RIT Head Coach Jake Coon. "Guys came out and played hard, played unselfish and played together as a team which was nice to see."

RIT is making its ninth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and 20th appearance in program history. The Tigers, who played in last year's national championship game, are 25-19 all-time in tournament play. They are 19-8 in the national tournament under Coon.