ROCHESTER, NY -- Seniors Dawson Tait (Ottawa, Ontario/Mother Teresa) and Larson Sundown (Basam, NY/Akron) each tallied four goals, while Spencer Bell (Fairport, NY/Fairport) handed out a career-high six assists as the No. 1 RIT (1-0) men's lacrosse team defeated Nazareth College (0-1) 23-8 in non-conference action Wednesday afternoon.

Shots were 52-34 in favor of RIT. The Tigers won 24-of-35 face-offs and the ground ball battle, 56-29. RIT was 18-of-23 on clearing attempts and went 2-for-5 with the man advantage.

Tait and Sundown led RIT with four goals apiece. Ryan Rosenblum (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) tallied three goals and four points, and Quinn Commandant (Rockwood, Ontario/The Kiski School) tallied two goals and three points. Sophomore Luke Pilcher (Oakville, ON/Everest Academy) scored twice, and juniors Marley Angus (Oakville, Ontario/Holy Trinity) and John Mozrall (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford) each tallied a goal and an assist.

Senior Nick Montemorano (Victor, NY/Victor) won 14-of-17 draws and led the Tigers with nine ground balls. Senior defenseman Patrick Shoemay (Surrey, British Columbia/Holy Cross) caused four turnovers and had four ground balls. Senior goalie Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) picked up the win in net for the Tigers, making six saves. Drew Hutchison (Otonabee, Ontario/The Hill Academy) made six saves in relief, while Kyle Burbank (Newtown, CT/St. Joseph) made a save.

Clifford Pollard, Quinn McKercher and Jake McOsker led Nazareth with two goals apiece. Owen Gonzalex added a pair of assists, while Eric Almquist took the loss in net for Nazareth, making 12 saves.

RIT jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the first quarter on goals from Shoemay, Sundown, Wiechers and Angus. After a Nazareth goal cut the Tigers lead to 4-1, RIT ran off three straight goals, taking a 7-1 lead on Rosenblum's second goal of the quarter. Sundown added a late goal to make it 8-2 after 15 minutes.

The Tigers opened the game up in the second quarter, outscoring the Golden Flyers 7-1. Sundown, Tait, Rosenblum, Commandant, Mozrall, Bell and Pilcher each scored in the quarter to give RIT a 15-4 halftime lead.

RIT scored five goals in the third quarter, and tallied three more in the fourth quarter to make it a 23-8 final. Tait scored three times in the third quarter, while freshman Keegan Lochner (Hudson Falls, NY/Albany Academy) scored his first collegiate goal midway through the fourth quarter.

RIT is scheduled to play St. John Fisher College on Wednesday, March 17, at 7 p.m. from RIT's Turf Field.