ROCHESTER, NY – The No. 1 RIT (18-1) men's lacrosse team won its eighth straight Liberty League Championship, 14-6 over No. 2 seed Union College (13-3, ranked 12th in Division III) in the 2019 Liberty League Men's Lacrosse Championship from the Turf Field Saturday. The Tigers earned the automatic berth into the 2019 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship. RIT's Dawson Tait (Ottawa, Ontario/Mother Teresa) was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

"Our goal every year is to win a Liberty League Championship," said RIT Head Coach Jake Coon. "Union is tough team, and we had to earn the win today. I am proud of how our guys were resilient today and got the win."

RIT trailed 2-1 after the first quarter, and went down 3-1 early in the second quarter on a Jack Sullivan goal at the 12:34 mark. The Tigers scored the final four goals of the first half, and out-scored the Dutchmen 13-3 over the final 42 minutes of action to earn the Liberty League crown.

Shots were 45-42 in favor of RIT and won the ground ball battle, 34-28. The Tigers won 11-of-21 face-offs and went 11-of-16 on clearing attempts, while going 2-for-6 on man-up chances. Tait led the Tigers with four points on two goals and two assists. Freshman Spencer Bell (Fairport, NY/Fairport) tallied three goals and Adam Wolf (Oakville, Ontario/Everest Academy) and Ryan Barnable (Whitby, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) each tallied two goals. Shawn Nally (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) and Damon Currie each finished with a goal and an assist.

Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) improved to 18-1 on the season in net for RIT, making 15 saves and scoring his first collegiate goal. Nick Montemorano (Victor, NY/Victor) won 10-of-19 draws to go along with a goal and four ground balls. Trevor Smyth (Orangeville, Ontario/The Kiski School), and Matt Pogue (Mississauga, Ontario/St. Paul Secondary) had four ground balls for RIT. Pogue and Julien Guay (Oakville, Ontario/The Hill Academy) each caused two turnovers.

Keaton McCann tallied a goal and an assist for Union, while Kerry Lynne finished with two assists. Hayden Frye, Kieran McGovern, Jack Kaufman and Aidan Flood each scored for the Dutchmen, while Jack Santilli took the loss in net, making 11 saves.

Flood gave Union an early lead, scoring off an assist from McCann 44 seconds into the game. Currie tied the game at 1-1 on his goal off an assist from Nally at the 8:59 mark. McGovern gave Union a 2-1 lead on his goal with 5:48 to play in the opening quarter.

Sullivan gave Union a two-goal lead on his goal at the 12:34 mark of the second quarter, extending the Dutchmen lead to 3-1. RIT ran off four straight goals to finish the quarter to lead 5-3, including a full-field shot by Hare that beat the buzzer. Barnable scored off a pass from Currie with 9:16 remaining in the half to cut the Union lead to 3-2. Ryan Tandy (Montrose, NY/Hendrick-Hudson) tied the game at 3-3 on his goal from Barnable with 3:50 to play, and Barnable gave the Tigers their first lead of the game on his man-up goal with 1:45 to play in the quarter. With time running out in the first half, Hare made a save and hoisted the ball down the field towards the Union goal. The ball caromed into the net off a funny bounce for Hare's first career goal and gave the Tigers a 5-3 halftime lead.

Bell opened the second-half scoring with a pair of goals, extending the RIT lead to 7-3 on hid goal at the 11:02 mark of the third quarter. Frey broke the RIT run with his goal midway through the third quarter that cut the RIT lead to 7-4. Goals from Tait and Nally to end the third quarter extended the RIT lead to 9-4. Montemorano won the opening face-off of the fourth quarter and scored to give RIT a 10-4 lead. Tait extended the Tigers lead to 11-4 on his second goal of the game with 11:56 to play.

After a McCann goal cut the RIT lead to 11-5, goals from Bell and two from Wolf put the game away for RIT. Kaufman tallied a late goal for Union to make it a 14-6 final.

It is the eighth straight Liberty League Tournament title for RIT, and tenth straight league championship overall for the Tigers, who also won the Empire 8 titles in 2010 and 2011. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 22-3. RIT has now won at least 18 games in eight of the last 10 seasons and now have 324 goals in 19 games in 2019.

RIT will await its first opponent in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection show will be aired on Sunday, May 5 at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com. The Tigers are making their 21st overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and tenth straight.