ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Junior Luke Pilcher tallied seven points and freshman Clifford Gaston scored four goals to lead the top-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT; 16-1) men's lacrosse team to a 19-10 win over No. 4 seed RPI (10-5) in a Liberty League semifinal on Wednesday.
With the win, the Tigers advance to their tenth Liberty League title game since joining the conference for the 2010-11 academic year. The championship game is set for Saturday, May 4 at 3 PM against No. 3 seed St. Lawrence University.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Senior Quinn Commandant gave RIT a 1-0 lead on his goal off an assist from junior Dylan Bruno.
- Senior Marley Angus gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead on his goal and senior Ryan Barnable made it 3-0 on his goal off an assist from freshman Clifford Gaston.
- RPI's Rhys Zoldi got the Engineers on the scoreboard with his goal off an assist from Cooper Urban.
- Commandant scored his second goal of the opening quarter off an assist from Pilcher that made it 4-1, in favor of the Tigers.
- RPI made it a two-goal game with a goal from Tyler Nalls, he scored with 1:20 remaining in the quarter (4-2).
- RIT scored the first three goals of the second quarter, taking a 7-2 lead.
- Urban made the score 7-3 on his goal with 5:49 to play in the first half.
- Trey Froelich and Connor Glosner both scored late in the second quarter for the Engineers to cut the RIT lead to three. The score was 8-5 heading into the second half.
- RPI's Luke Murphy and Angelo Venuto scored two to start the third quarter, cutting the Engineers' three-goal deficit to one (8-7).
- The Tigers reeled off three goals to take an 11-7 lead, thanks to Clifford Gaston, Caiden Perry and Pilcher.
- Venuto make it an 11-8 with his second goal of the quarter.
- RIT closed out the third quarter scoring four goals in a row, increasing its lead to seven, 15-8 with 1:43 remaining.
- The Tigers opened the fourth quarter on a 3-0 to make it 18-8.
- Sophomore Miles Tillman scored twice in the fourth, while Gaston and Angus each contributed a goal or the Tigers.
- RPI's Trey Berry tallied a late goal for a final score of 19-10.
GAME NOTES
- RIT fired 60 shots, including 39 on goal.
- RIT finished 23-of-25 on clearing attempts, converted 4-of-6 man-up chances and scooped up 41 ground balls.
- Senior Drew Hutchison made eight saves in net to improve to 16-1 on the season.
- Angus scored three goals, while Barnable finished with two goals and two assists.
- Sophomore Mike Grace caused three turnovers and recorded five ground balls.
- Graduate student Jimmy Spillane won 15 draws and had nine ground balls.
- Venuto led the Engineers in goals with three and Urban finished with one goal, three assists for four points on the day.
- Goalie Joseph Perry made 20 saves for RPI.
- RIT is vying for its tenth straight Liberty League title in men's lacrosse.