Salem, Va. -- The men's lacrosse team defeated Rochester Institute of Technology, 13-12 at Donald J. Kerr Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The Maroons won their first game of the season and improved to 1-1 on the season.

Both teams were nearly even in face-offs (28-28), extra man opportunities (6-5 Roanoke), clears (34-33 RIT) and turnovers (28-25 RIT). RIT outshot Roanoke, 44-35, but the Maroons won in ground balls, 65-53, for the second-straight game.

RIT started out strong, winning the first quarter, 4-1 before Roanoke roared back with a 9-2 second period. Down three, 6-3 with six minutes remaining in the half, the Maroons scored seven unanswered goals in a span of four minutes to give them a 10-6 advantage.

The third stanza looked the same as the first as Tigers closed to within one, 11-10 heading into the final quarter. They would take the lead after scoring four unanswered goals to make it 12-11 with 10 minutes remaining.

Less than a minute later, NCAA All-American Chas Carlson took matters into his own hands and scored an unassisted goal at the 9:38 mark to tie the score, 12-12. With three minutes left, Adam Ariosa scored the game-winner off an assist from Pat March to give the Maroons their first win of the season and against the Tigers in the series.

Andrew Rocco led the Tigers with four goals while Chris Ferry added two goals and two assists. Billy Walton had one goal and two assists.

March had another big game, leading the Maroons with four goals and three assists for seven points. All three categories were all career-highs for the 2007 ODAC Rookie of the Year. Ashton Hotchkiss led the Maroons in assists with a career-high four with one goal on the afternoon. Steve Furdock and Matt Quinton each had one goal and one assist.

Jake Dorsey finished with nine saves for Roanoke, picking up his second win while Nick Peck played 15 valuable minutes and had three saves. Brad Colon had 11 saves for the Tigers.

The men will travel to Maryland to take on St. Mary's on Saturday, March 8. The Maroons are 6-1 all-time and won 12-11 last season. Game time is scheduled for noon.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
RIT.................  4  2  4  2 - 12
RCMLAX08............  1  9  1  2 - 13
 
Attendance: 
 
RIT SCORING:
GOALS: Andrew Ruocco 4; Chris Ferry 2; Adam Vlassis 2; Billy Walton 1;
       Dan Rago 1; Wes Adam 1; Sean Gillies 1.
ASSISTS: Chris Ferry 2; Billy Walton 2; Wes Adam 1; Dan Rago 1;
         Adam Vlassis 1.
 
RCMLAX08 SCORING:
GOALS: Pat March 4; Benjamin Sultze 2; Ashton Hotchkiss 1;
       Steve Furdock 1; Matt Quinton 1; Stephen Simmons 1; Adam Ariosa 1;
       Chas Carlson 1; Tim Hammernick 1.
ASSISTS: Ashton Hotchkiss 4; Pat March 3; Steve Furdock 1; Brian Ingold 1;
         Matt Quinton 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
RIT................. 12 11 12  9 - 44
RCMLAX08............  8 11 10  6 - 35
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
RIT................. 12 14 14 13 - 53
RCMLAX08............ 15 16 15 19 - 65
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
RIT.................  4-6   6-11  3-6   4-5  - 17-28
RCMLAX08............  2-6   5-11  3-6   1-5  - 11-28
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
RIT.................  5-6   6-8   6-9   7-11 - 24-34
RCMLAX08............  4-6   9-9   4-5  11-13 - 28-33
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
RIT.................  1-1   1-1   0-3   0-0  -  2-5
RCMLAX08............  0-1   2-2   0-2   0-1  -  2-6
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
RIT.................  3  1  5  2 - 11
RCMLAX08............  2  3  4  3 - 12
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
RIT.................  4  6  5 10 - 25
RCMLAX08............  5  6  6 11 - 28
 
PENALTIES - RIT 7/5:30; RCMLAX08 5/4:30.

2008-03-06