CORTLAND, NY -- The No. 3 RIT (10-1) men's lacrosse team scored eight second quarter goals and held on to beat SUNY Cortland (6-4), 14-10 in non-conference action Wednesday evening. The Tigers led 12-6 at halftime, and despite scoring just two goals in the second half, hung on for the win.

Shots were 45-43 in favor of RIT, who won the ground ball battle 44-32. The Tigers went 2-for-5 on man-up and 19-of-26 on clearing attempts, while winning 14-of-27 face-offs. Shawn Nally (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) and Dawson Tait (Ottawa, Ontario/Mother Teresa) each had five points. Nally finished with four goals and an assist, while Tait tallied three goals and two assists. Ryan Barnable (Whitby, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) scored three goals and Cam Isaac (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) finished with a goal and two assists.

Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) improved to 10-1 on the season, making 17 saves in net for the Tigers. Trevor Smyth (Orangeville, Ontario/The Kiski School) led RIT with eight ground balls and caused five turnovers. Nick Montemorano (Victor, NY/Victor) won 14-of-26 draws and had five ground balls. Matt Pogue (Mississauga, Ontario/St. Paul Secondary) snagged seven ground balls and added an assist, while Alex Maruna (Medina, OH/St. Ignatius) had five ground balls and Chandler Allen (Ilderon, Ontario/Medway) caused two turnovers.

Terrence Haggerty led Cortland with four goals. Dean Riley and Dante Yacavone each had a goal and an assist. Jon Vargas took the loss in net, making three saves. Marc Esposito came on and made 12 saves in relief.

RIT jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. A goal from Barnable and two from Nally gave the Tigers the early three-goal advantage. The Red Dragons stormed back, tying the score at 3-3 on a Brian Williams goal with 9:09 to play in the quarter. Joey Panariello gave SUNY Cortland its only lead of the game on his goal with 2:09 to play that made it 4-3 in favor of the home team. The Tigers tied the score on Nally's third goal of the quarter off an assist from Smyth with 25 seconds remaining.

RIT kept the momentum going, running off the first five goals of the second quarter, taking a 9-4 lead on a Barnable goal with 10:55 to play in the half. Goals from Isaac, Ryan Rosenblum (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford), Chris Brown (Homer, NY/Homer), Tait and Barnable made it six straight goals overall, giving RIT a five-goal lead.

Alex Waelder broke the RIT run with his goal with 6:48 to play in the second, cutting the RIT lead to 9-5. Tait answered right back, giving the Tigers a 10-5 lead on his second goal of the quarter off an assist from Damon Currie. After a Cortland goal cut the RIT lead to 10-6, Cameron Gebhardt (Fairport, NY/Fairport) and Nally tallied late in the half gave the Tigers a 12-6 halftime lead.

After an eight-goal second quarter, Barnable scored the lone goal of the third quarter, scoring with 2:36 to play increasing the Tigers lead to 13-6. Hare made three saves in the quarter as the Tigers defense forced the Red Dragons into five turnovers.

Tait gave RIT a 14-6 lead on his goal early in the fourth quarter. His goal off a feed from Nally 59 seconds into the quarter would prove to be the last goal the Tigers would score. The Red Dragons scored four straight goals, cutting the RIT lead to 14-10 on Yacavone's second goal of the game with 7:09 to play. The Tigers played keep away and were able to hold on for the win.

RIT has now won nine straight over SUNY Cortland.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, April 6 when RIT hosts Liberty League rival No. 15 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 12 p.m. on RIT's Turf Field.