Men's Lacrosse | 3/21/2009 4:27:11 PM

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ONEONTA, NY -- The RIT men's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the 2009 season, 7-6 at Empire 8 rival Hartwick College on Saturday afternoon.  The Tigers had its season-opening five-game winning streak snapped in the Empire 8 opener for both teams.  RIT is now 5-1 (0-1 Empire 8), while Hartwick is 3-3 (1-0 Empire 8).

Hartwick led 6-5 going into the fourth quarter and extended the lead to 7-5 on a goal by Tom Srubinski just 20 seconds into the quarter.  RIT came right back to cut the lead to 7-6 on a goal by Sean Gillies (Oakville, Ontario/Albany Academy) (Oakville, ON/Albany Academy) just 41 seconds later.

From there however, RIT pressed, but could not get the tying goal.  The Tigers out-shot the Hawks 11-4 over the final 15 minutes, but Hartwick goalkeeper  John Meade stopped everything fired his way late.

Meade was the difference, as he made 17 saves in the contest.  RIT out-shot Hartwick 44-22, including 23-8 in the second half. 

The Tigers struggled with the man-up, going 0-for-7.  Hartwick was 3-for-7.  The Hawks also won 10-of-17 face-offs.

Kelso Davis (Freeport, ME/Deerfield Academy) (Freeport, ME/Deerfield Academy) led RIT offensively with three goals and an assist.  Gillies,  Chris Cherami (Olwick, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) (Olwick, NJSeton Hall Prep) and Adam Vlassis (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) also scored for RIT.

Adam Lehmann (Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit) (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) and #Dan MacRae (Oakville, Ontario/Holy Trinity) led RIT with six ground balls.  RIT had 48 ground balls to Hartwick's 43.

Defensively, RIT played well, allowing just 22 shots, while Hartwick turned the ball over 35 times.  #M.J. Kiekebelt# (Caledon, ON/St. Andrew's College/Aurora) grabbed five ground balls and caused three turnovers.  Rob Mizelle (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) and Lehmann caused a pair of turnovers each.  The Tigers were 19-for-22 on clears.

Kevin Rattigan (Chicago, IL/Western Reserve Academy) (Chicago, IL/Western Reserve Academy) got the start and made eight saves.

Steve Caramello led the Hawks with three goals.  Ryan Kloss added three assists.

The game was tied at two after one quarter and was 4-4 at halftime.  Hartwick scored the first two goals of the second half to take a 6-4 lead.  RIT led 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3.

RIT is back in action on Wednesday, when they travel to play Clarkson University at 4 p.m.