Men's Lacrosse | 5/16/2013 1:45:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT (18-2) men's lacrosse team will face SUNY Cortland (19-0) in the semifinals of the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship on Sunday, May 19 at 1 p.m. in Cortland, New York. It is the Tigers second appearance in three years in the national semifinals.

RIT advanced to the semifinals with a convincing 14-5 win over Tufts in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Eddie Kiesa (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt), Jack Krzyston (Bedford, NH/Bishop Guertin) and Kyle Aquin (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean De Brebeuf) each had four points for the Tigers. Kiesa and Krzyston each had three goals and an assist, while Aquin scored two goals and dished out two assists. Tyler Brooks-Lambert (Seneca Castle, NY/Midlakes) won 13 of 20 face-offs and had nine ground balls, while Pat Johnston (Long Beach, CA/Norwell (MA)) picked up his 18th win of the season, making 15 saves. RIT opened the tournament with a 22-13 win over Cabrini in the second round. RIT has outscored its opponents 36-18 in two NCAA Tournament games this season.

The Red Dragons advanced to the semifinals with a 12-7 win over Western New England University in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Cortland out scored Western New England, 7-2, in the second half to earn its 19th straight win. Ten different players scored for Cortland led by junior Mike Cummings and sophomore Benjamin Dunlavey, who tallied two goals each. Senior goalie Mike Kaminski stopped four shots for the Red Dragons.

This is the fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament for RIT and 15th overall.  The Tigers have made it to five previous semifinals games, the last coming in 2011 versus Tufts. The Red Dragons are appearing in their 29th NCAA Tournament and have won the National Championship four times, last coming in 2009.

Sunday's winner advances to the NCAA Division III National Championship game and will face the winner between Salisbury and Stevenson on Sunday, May 26 as part of Championship Weekend at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa.

RIT comes into Sunday seventh in Division III in scoring, averaging 14.85 goals per game. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 297-143 this season and have scored 10 or more goals in 17 of 20 games. RIT's man-up unit is tops in all of Division III, converting 42 of 73 (57.5 percent) chances on the season.

RIT features 10 players with 10 or more points, eight with 20 or more points, five with 55 or more points and three players with at least 65 points on the season. Krzyston, who tallied his 100th career point last Saturday, leads the team in scoring with 75 points on 49 goals and 26 assists. Krzyston, the 2013 Liberty League Offensive Player of the Year, scored at least one point in 19 of 20 games this season, including three goals versus Tufts. Kiesa is second on the team in scoring with 68 points on 39 goals and 29 assists, while Aquin is third with 66 points on 56 goals and 10 assists. Aquin's 56 goals is sixth most in a season at RIT and his 17 man-up tallies are a school record. Sophomore Allister Warren (Toronto, Ontario/Malvern Collegiate Institute) is fourth with 56 points (35g, 21a), and junior Taylor Wisman (Seattle, WA/Inglemoor) is fifth with 55 points (27g, 28a).

Defensively, RIT is 24th in Division III allowing 7.15 goals per game. Johnston, the 2013 Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year, is 18-2 on the season. He is 17th in Divison III with a 6.67 goals against average, and is sixth nationally with a .658 save percentage. Senior defenseman Elliott Cowburn (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) leads the Tigers with 25 caused turnovers, while grabbing 63 ground balls, and freshman Matt Hossack (Port Perry, Ontario/Port Perry) has 14 caused turnovers and 44 ground balls. Brooks-Lambert has been impressive at the face-off “X”, winning 63.5 percent of his face-offs to go along with 109 ground balls.

Cortland comes into the semifinals averaging 12.63 goals per game and has outscored its opponents 240-111 this season.  The Red Dragons man-up unit has scored on 23 of 64 (34.3%) of their opportunities this season.

Cortland features eight players with 10 or more points, six players with 20 or more points, and three players with 50 or more points, led by Zach Hopps who has 66 points on 26 goals and 40 assists. Joe Slavik is second in scoring with 56 points on 30 goals and 26 assists, and Cody Consul is third in scoring with 51 points on 28 goals and 23 assists. Matt Rakoczy is fourth with 36 points (29g, 7a) and Mike Cantelli is fifth with 21 points (14g, 7a).

Defensively, Cortland is fifth in Division III allowing 5.78 goals per game and has held its opponents to fewer than 10 goals in 16 of 19 games. Kaminksi, Cortland's all-time goals against average leader, has seen the majority of the minutes in net this season for the Red Dragons, posting an 18-0 record. He is second in Division III with a 5.74 goals against average and fifth with a .644 save percentage. J.T. Foltz leads the team with 19 caused turnovers, while Pat Baldwin has taken the bulk of the face-offs, winning 60.4 percent while picking up 96 ground balls.

Ticket prices for Wednesday's game are $5 for adults, and $3 for students.

RIT is 67-12 over the last four seasons, while Cortland is 73-7 over that span and 110-11 since the start of the 2008 season. The 67 wins are the most over a four-year span in program history. RIT's 18 wins are the second most in one season in program history, one shy of the school mark of 19, set in 2011. RIT also advanced to the NCAA semifinal that season.

Sunday's game will be a rematch of a double overtime thriller back on March 27 that Cortland rallied from an 11-9 fourth quartrer deficit to win 12-11. Mike Rakoczy scored the game winner with 3:12 to play in the second overtime. Aquin led RIT with three goals, while Wisman and Krzyston each had two goals. Rakoczy finished with two goals for Cortland, and Slavik added three for the Red Dragons. Cortland leads the all-time series between the two schools, 19-13. The last three meetings have all been decided by one goal.