ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The nationally top-ranked RIT men's lacrosse team scored eight goals in the final six minutes, 27 seconds of the first quarter to erase a 1-0 deficit in earning a 17-8 win versus 15th-ranked Cortland Wednesday afternoon in cold and windy conditions. With the loss, the Red Dragons dropped to 6-4 on the season, while the Tigers improved to 11-0.

Graduate student Devin Phelps (Chittenango) led Cortland with three goals. Junior Dean Riley (Homer) netted two goals, juniors Cam LaPorta (Centerport/Harborfields) and Mike McNaney (Marcellus) each tallied one goal and one assist and senior Liam Erickson (Brewster) scored a goal. Junior Joey Panariello (Islip) and sophomore Danny Caroussos (Smithtown/Smithtown West) recorded one assist apiece. Senior goalie Joe Scalise (Fairport) tied his career high with 18 saves for the Red Dragons.

Kyle Killen paced RIT with four goals and one assist. Quinn Commandant tallied a game-high six points on three goals and three assists, and Jay Vakiener also netted three goals. Ryan Tandy and Cam Isaac each scored twice, Beau Riley registered one goal and two assists, Shawn Nally contributed one goal and one assist and Aidan Milburn chipped in with a goal.

Goalie Walker Hare turned aside seven shots for the Tigers. Nate Farrell won 19-of-25 faceoffs and collected 10 ground balls.Elis Salama caused four turnovers and scooped up three ground balls, and Trevor Smyth recorded three ground balls and three caused turnovers.

After Riley put Cortland up 1-0 just 47 seconds into the game, neither team scored again until RIT's eight-goal outburst to close the first quarter. Killen, Commandant and Isaac each scored twice during the run. The Red Dragons closed the gap to 8-4 with the first three goals of the second quarter, one each from Riley, LaPorta and Erickson, but RIT took a 10-4 lead into the break with a pair of goals in the closing minute of the half.

Killen's man-up goal at 5:38 of the third quarter boosted the Tigers' lead to 11-4 before Phelps tallied back-to-back goals 59 seconds apart to make it an 11-6 game heading to the final quarter. RIT took control by scoring five of the first six goals of the quarter for a 16-7 advantage with 5:25 to play. Phelps then netted his third goal at 4:08 and Tandy finished the scoring with 31 seconds on the clock for the 17-8 final. 

RIT 17, Cortland 8

GAME SUMMARY:

Team               1-2-3-4       Final
Cortland           1-3-2-2            8
RIT                   8-2-1-6          17

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Devin Phelps 3-0, Dean Riley 2-0, Cam LaPorta 1-1, Mike McNaney 1-1, Liam Erickson 1-0, Joey Panariello 0-1, Danny Caroussos 0-1
RIT: Kyle Killen 4-1, Quinn Commandant 3-3, Jay Vakiener 3-0, Ryan Tandy 2-0, Cam Isaac 2-0, Beau Riley 1-2, Shawn Nally 1-1, Aidan Milburn 1-0, Ryan Barnable 0-2, Eli Salama 0-1 

Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Joe Scalise, 18 saves (17 GA in 60:00)
RIT: Walker Hare, 7 saves (8 GA in 60:00)

Shots: RIT 51, Cortland 24
Ground Balls: RIT 47, Cortland 20
Turnovers: Cortland 19, RIT 17
Caused Turnovers: RIT 12, Cortland 2
Clears: RIT 18-of-19, Cortland 15-of-22
Faceoffs Won: RIT 22, Cortland 6
Penalties: Cortland 6-4:00, RIT 4-3:00
Extra-Man Offense: RIT 3-6, Cortland 0-4

Records after the game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 6-4 (ranked 15th nationally in Div. III), RIT (Tigers) 11-0 (ranked 1st nationally in Div. III)