2015 Liberty League Men's Lacrosse Championship Central
2015 LIBERTY LEAGUE MEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT
Team Seedings
1. Rochester Institute of Technology –
Roster |
Stats
2. St. Lawrence University –
Roster |
Stats
3. Union College –
Roster |
Stats
4. Clarkson University –
Roster |
Stats
How RIT & Union reached the Championship
No.1 seed RIT and No. 3 seed Union earned semifinal wins to advance to Sunday’s championship game. For the second consecutive year, the Tigers and Dutchmen will face each other in the title game. RIT moved on in convincing fashion beating fourth seed Clarkson, 17-4. Ryan Lee led the Tigers with six points (5 goals and an assist) and RIT will be making its fourth straight appearance in the championship. Union scored 1:47 into overtime to seal a come-back-from-behind win over second-seeded St. Lawrence University. The Dutchmen trailed the majority of the game, not taking a lead until the final 1:31 of the fourth quarter. Paul Alberti scored the game-winner off a pass from Adam Rosenthal.
Earlier this season...
The Tigers traveled to Schenectady, N.Y. to play Union on April 25 where RIT was victorious with a 22-7 win. 12 different Tigers scored at least on goal and 16 different players recorded at least one point. Eddie Kiesa and Ryan Lee both scored four goals and added two assists for six point. Union opened the game with a 2-0 lead off of goals from Richard Gregory and Tom Stanton but the RIT offense would get going, as the Tigers made it 14-6 going into the second half. Shots were 48-38 in favor of RIT to end the game.
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CHAMPIONSHIP: #4 CLARKSON at #1 RIT
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(1) RIT 17-0 (7-0 Liberty League)
Offensive Leaders:
Ryan Lee (49 goals, 29 assists)
Allister Warren (35 goals, 28 assists)
Eddie Kiesa (33 goals, 20 assists)
Goalkeeper:
Pat Johnston (17-0, 8.01 GAA, .596 SP) |
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(3) Union 13-3 (5-2 Liberty League)
Leaders:
Charlie Ross (42 goals, 4 assists)
Peter Richardson (20 goals, 19 assists)
Richard Gregory (21 goals, 14 assists)
Goalkeeper:
Stefan Basile (12-3, 9.63 GAA, .533) |
Regular Season Matchup (Tigers lead 1-0)
March 21, 2015: RIT 22, Union 7 |
Tournament Preview
The Rochester Institute of Technology, ranked the top team in the nation, enters the 2015 Liberty League Men’s Lacrosse Championship as the No.1 seed for the fourth straight year. For the third time in four seasons, the Tigers were undefeated finishing the year at 16-0 and 7-0 in the Liberty League. RIT has the most potent offense in Division III, averaging 18.0 goals per game and outscoring opponents 288-118. RIT also leads the country in assists with 192. The Tigers lineup features three players with 50 or more points—Ryan Lee (72 points), Allister Warren (57 points) and Eddie Kiesa (53 points). Lee leads the league with 4.50 points per game and 2.75 goals per game. Goalkeeper Pat Johnston has started every game in net for the Tigers this season and he currently sports an 8.32 goals against average and .592 save percentage. Matt Hossack leads the team with 80 ground balls and 39 caused turnovers while Steven Ricci is the Tigers’ top face-off guy winning 87-of-157 for a 55.4 success rate. RIT hosts fourth-seeded Clarkson on Friday. The Golden Knights compiled an overall record of 7-7 and 4-3 mark in the Liberty League. March, was the last time these two teams played with RIT coming out on top, 16-7. Clarkson’s defense is ranked second in the league to RIT, allowing 8.21 goals per game. Nick Strandholm handles the goalkeeping duties for the Golden Kngihts with a .574 save percentage and 8.26 goals against average. JD St. Croix leads the team with 22 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers while younger brother Ryan St. Croix is Clarkson’s top offensive weapon with 29 goals and nine assists for 38 points. Matthew Gold and Corey Herrington are also key components to the offense, combining for 30 assists and 63 points.
In the other semifinal game, No. 2 St. Lawrence hosts No. 3 Union in Canton N.Y. on Friday. The Saints wrapped up the regular season at 9-7 (5-2 Liberty League) as they reach the Liberty League tournament for the fourth straight year. The Saints are led by the goaltending duo of Andrew Butturini (5-3) and Nick Ford (4-4), both hold a save percentage over .500. Alec Dietsch paces the team from the face-off ‘X’ with a .528 success rate (124-of-235) and has scooped up a team-high 56 ground balls. Conor Healey (68 points) and Tommy Hovey (54 points) lead the team offensively as each have produced over 50 points. Healey leads the league with his 39 assists and he is ranked second in points per game (4.25). Hovey is tops in the league in goals per game (2.63) and he is fourth in points per game (3.38). St. Lawrence and Union last met at the end of March where the Saints were victorious with a 7-4 home win over the Dutchmen. Union finished the year at 12-3 and 5-2 in the Liberty League. The Dutchmen are riding a two-game win streak heading into the tournament as they reach the semifinals for the eighth consecutive season. Union is ranked 14
th in the nation and boasts one of the top offenses in the league averaging 12.40 goals per game as well as 20.00 points per game. Charlie Ross (42 points), Peter Richardson (38 points) and Richard Gregory (33 points) are the team’s top scorers with twenty or more goals apiece. Connor Hall leads the league with 113 ground balls (7.53 per game) and has a .610 face-off percentage winning 188-of-308 chances. Stefan Basile is the Dutchmen’s goalkeeper, starting 14 of 15 this season, he is 11-3 with a .534 save percentage and 9.62 goals against average.
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SEMIFINAL 1: #4 CLARKSON at #1 RIT
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(1) RIT 16-0 (7-0 Liberty League)
Offensive Leaders:
Ryan Lee (44 goals, 28 assists)
Allister Warren (34 goals, 23 assists)
Eddie Kiesa (33 goals, 20 assists)
Goalkeeper:
Pat Johnston (16-0, 8.32 GAA, .592 SP) |
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(4) Clarkson 7-7 (4-3 Liberty League)
Leaders:
Ryan St. Croix (29 goals, 9 assists)
Matthew Gold (20 goals, 12 assists)
Corey Herrington (13 goals, 18 assists)
Goalkeeper:
Nick Strandholm (7-7, 8.26 GAA, .574 SP) |
Regular Season Matchup (Tigers lead 1-0)
March 21, 2015: RIT 16, Clarkson 7 |
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SEMIFINAL 2: #3 UNION at #2 St. Lawrence
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(2) St. Lawrence 9-7 (5-2 Liberty League)
Leaders:
Conor Healey (29 goals, 39 assists)
Tommy Hovey (42 goals, 12 assists)
Jeremy Vautour (29 goals, 20 assists)
Goalkeepers:
Andrew Butturini (5-3, 8.19 GAA, .528 SP)
Nick Ford (4-4, 9.94 GAA, .500 SP) |
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(3) Union 12-3 (5-2 Liberty League)
Leaders:
Charlie Ross (38 goals, 4 assists)
Peter Richardson (20 goals, 18 assists)
Richard Gregory (20 goals, 13 assists)
Goalkeeper:
Stefan Basile (11-3, 9.62 GAA, .534) |
Regular Season Matchup (Saints lead 1-0)
March 28, 2015: St. Lawrence 7, Union 4 |
Recent Liberty League Men's Lacrosse Tournament History
2014
Champion: RIT
Semifinals
#4 St. Lawrence 9 at #1 RIT 19 Box
#3 RPI 3 at #2 Union 8 Box
Championship
#3 Union 11 at #1 RIT 13 Box
2013
Champion: RIT
Semifinals
#4 Union 7 at #1 RIT 13 Box
#3 Clarkson 7 at #2 St. Lawrence 5 Box
Championship
#2 Clarkson 9 at #1 RIT 10 (OT) Box
2012
Champion: RIT
Semifinals
#4 Clarkson 4 at #1 RIT 12 Box
#3 St. Lawrence 9 at #2 Union 10 Box
Championship
#2 Union 6 at #1 RIT 8 Box
2011
Champion: Union
Semifinals
#4 Rensselaer 13 at #1 Skidmore 12 (2OT) Box
#3 Clarkson 8 at #2 Union 9 Box
Championship
#4 Rensselaer 7 at #2 Union 8 (2OT) Box
2010
Champion: RPI
Semifinals
#4 St. Lawrence 5 at #1 Rensselaer 9 Box
#3 Skidmore 10 at #2 Union 6 Box
Championship
#3 Skidmore 4 at #1 RPI 14 Box