ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT men's lacrosse team was defeated by Nazareth College 16-9 in the title game of the 2008 ECAC Upstate Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship on Sunday afternoon at RIT Field. The Tigers finish their season with an 11-8 record, while the Golden Flyers finish their season with a 10-6 mark.

RIT out shot Nazareth 49-47, but ran into a hot Nazareth goalie in Todd Dermody who made 22 saves, earning Most Outstanding Player honors.

The Tigers won 17-of-28 face-offs and narrowly won the ground ball battle, 41-39. RIT went 1-for-3 with the extra-man, while stopping the Golden Flyers on seven of nine attempts.

RIT trailed 3-2 after the first quarter. The Golden Flyers led 1-0 before Andrew Ruocco (Corning, NY/Corning East) scored the first of his two goals, tying the score at 1-1.

Ruocco tied the game at 2-2 with his second goal of the game on an assist from Kelso Davis (Freeport, ME/Deerfield Academy) with 5:58 remaining in the quarter.

Nazareth tallied a third goal with 1:32 remaining in the first to take a 3-2 lead after one quarter of play.

Kelso Davis quickly tied the score at 3-3 with his first goal of the afternoon coming 32 seconds into the second quarter on an assist from Wes Adam (Lafayette, NY).

The Flyers took command of the quarter with three straight goals, taking a 6-3 lead with 10:21 remaining on a goal by Mark DiCirce.

Wes Adam ripped shot from outside, scoring his first goal of the afternoon, breaking the Nazareth run and cutting the lead to 6-4.

Adam struck again with 3:10 remaining in the half, cutting Nazareth's lead to 7-5 heading into half time.

The senior midfielder made it 7-6 with his third goal of the game 1:54 second into third quarter on an assist from Ruocco.

After a Nazareth goal made it 8-6 Dan Rago tallied an unassisted goal with 3:29 remaining in the third.

The Flyers broke the game open late in the third quarter with three consecutive goals, taking an 11-7 lead on an unassisted goal by Mark Kanellis.

Adam Vlassis (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa) and Adam each scored goals in the fourth quarter but it wasn't enough as Nazareth tallied five goals in the quarter to make it 16-9.

Adam finished with five points on four goals and an assist to lead the Tigers. Ruocco had six points on two goals and four assists and Kelso Davis had a goal and an assist.

Brad Conlon (Ottawa, ON/Bridgton Academy) got the start in net allowing seven goals and making six saves. Kevin Rattigan (Chicago, IL/Western Reserve Academy) played the final 31:21 and allowed nine goals and made 10 saves. Jacob Brunner (Lafayette, NY) won 17-of-28 face-offs and had a team-high 10 ground balls.

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Attackman Erinn O'Hara (Camillus, NY) scored four goals and added three assists and goalie Todd Dermody (Selden, NY) registered a career-high 22 saves Sunday as Nazareth won the ECAC Upstate Championship for men's lacrosse with a 16-9 victory over host RIT.

The victory avenged an 18-7 regular-season defeat and enabled the Golden Flyers to finish their season at 10-6 overall. It also marked Nazareth's third ECAC Upstate title and second in the last three seasons. RIT finished 11-8 overall.

"We did a lot of good things," said Nazareth Coach Rob Randall. "We won some face-offs, made some saves and scored some goals. It's a nice way for our seniors to go out."

There were numerous stars for the Golden Flyers Sunday, including senior midfielder Aaron Civalier (Penfield, NY), who was named the tournament's most outstanding player with two goals and three assists. Fellow senior Matt Aloi (Jamesville, NY) also scored three times. Sophomore long-stick Kyle Brown (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore attackman Mark DeCirce (Binghamton, NY) each contributed two goals and one assist.

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2008-05-11