OWINGS MILLS, MD -- The No. 2 RIT (5-1) men's lacrosse team lost 17-16 to No. 4 Amherst College (5-0) on day two of the 2019 Mustang Classic hosted by Stevenson University Saturday. The Tigers were outscored 10-4 in the second half and had their 30-game regular season winning streak snapped.

RIT led 12-7 at halftime, but Amherst rallied to tie the game at 14-14 after three quarters of play. Amherst's Jack Norton scored the game-winner with 3:47 to play off an assist from Matt Solberg.

RIT held a slight 49-48 shot edge. Amherst won the ground ball battle 57-40, and won 24-of-37 draws. The Tigers went 17-of-27 on clearing attempts, and were 2-of-3 on man-up. Shawn Nally (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) led RIT with seven points on three goals and four assists. Dawson Tait (Ottawa, Ontario/Mother Teresa) tallied five points on three goals and two assists, while Damon Currie tallied three goals. Ryan Barnable (Whitby, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) added two goals and two assists, and Cam Isaac (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) tallied a goal and two assists.

Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) took the loss in net for RIT, making 16 saves. Trevor Smyth (Orangeville, Ontario/The Kiski School) had four ground balls and caused two turnovers, while Patrick Shoemay (Surrey, British Columbia/Holy Cross) caused three turnovers.

Evan Wolf led Amherst with four goals and five points and Solberg tallied two goals and two assists. Norton finished with two goals, including the game-winner, and Chad Simons got the win in net for the Mammoths, making 15 saves.

RIT came out on fire, scoring seven goals in the first quarter. After a Jon Coffey goal gave Amherst an early 2-1 lead, RIT ran off five straight goals, taking a 6-2 lead on a sweet diving effort by Nally for the goal off an assist from Pent Eistrat (Toronto, Ontario/Humberside Collegiate). Nally scored two of the Tigers three goals in the run, while Cameron Gebhardt (Fairport, NY/Fairport), Barnable and Ryan Tandy (Montrose, NY/Hendrick-Hudson) also scored. After an Amherst goal broke the Tigers run, Nally scored his third of the quarter to give RIT a 7-2 lead. Hare was magnificent in net for RIT in the first quarter, making 10 saves.

The Tigers tallied five more times in the second quarter, including three straight to lead 12-7 at halftime. Currie scored twice in the quarter, while Tait, Isaac and Luke Henderson (Hespeler, Ontario/St. Benedict's Catholic) each scored for the Tigers. Currie's goal with three seconds remaining in the half, broke a two-goal spurt by the Mammoths to give RIT a five-goal lead.

Amherst came storming back in the third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 7-2. The Mammoths ran off five straight goals, tying the score at 13-13 on a Norton goal with 2:23 to play in the quarter. Tait gave RIT a brief lead on his goal off an assist from Nally with 2:06 to play, but a Wolf goal with seven seconds to play in the quarter tied the score at 14-14.

Amherst scored the fist two goals of the fourth quarter, taking a 16-14 lead on a Solberg goal with 8:43 to play in regulation. RIT came back, cutting the Amherst lead to 16-15 on a Currie goal with 7:51 remaining. He took a feed from Tait and fired a shot passed Simons to cut the Mammoths lead to one goal. Tait tied the score at 16-16 with 5:10 to play on his third goal of the game off an assist from Cam Isaac (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas).

The Tigers had their chances to take the lead, but costly turnovers gave the ball back to Amherst, and led to Norton's game-winner. The loss is the first regular season loss for RIT since a 9-6 defeat at Clarkson University on March 25, 2017.

RIT returns to action on Wednesday, March 20 when the Tigers host St. John Fisher College at 7 p.m. on RIT's Turf Field.