Men's Lacrosse advances past Cortland in NCAA Quarterfinals, 14-5

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT senior attackman Clifford Gaston scored four goals to lead the Tigers past visiting Cortland, 14-5, in the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament Quarterfinals.
 
Graduate student midfielder Ian Dinga tallied two goals and an assist and fifth-year midfielder Michael Finneran, senior attackman Nate Senez and first-year midfielder Ryan Bullock each finished with a goal and two assists.

Sophomore long-stick midfielder Logan Fletcher scored a career-high two goals and had four ground balls. Fifth-year defenseman Hunter FitzGibbons caused three turnovers and had three ground balls while fifth-year faceoff specialist Nick Farrell went 16-of-19 on draws and had seven ground balls. Junior goalie Alex Zborowski made 16 saves in net to improve to 21-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Dinga and Fletcher scored back-to-back goals early in the first quarter to give RIT a 2-0 lead.
• Cortland's Klay Stuver scored with 11:26 remaining in the opening frame to cut the Tiger's lead to 2-1.
• RIT ran off three straight goals, extending its lead to 5-1 on Gaston's second goal of the quarter.
• Sean Kavanagh scored for the Red Dragons with 4:45 to play in the first to cut the deficit to 5-2.
• Senez and Dinga each scored early in the second quarter to give RIT a 7-2 lead.
• Connor Cosgrove cut the Tiger's lead to 7-3 on his goal with 7:47 remaining in the second quarter.
• Bullock, senior midfielder Eric Burbank and Gaston each scored for RIT in a three-goal spurt to extend the Tiger's lead to 10-3 at halftime.
• Sam Rothman scored with 10:15 to play in the third quarter followed by a goal from junior midfielder Chase Bruno to give RIT an 11-4 lead with 9:36 remaining in the third.
• Nick Stoecker scored for Cortland and Gaston scored off an assist from junior attackman Ethan Harkins to give the Tigers a 12-5 lead.
• Finneran scored with 11 seconds to play in the third to extend RIT's lead to 13-5.
• Junior attackman Tyson Allison scored with 7:05 remaining in the fourth quarter to make it a 14-5 final.

GAME NOTES:

• RIT outshot Cortland 41-33.
• The Tigers went 25-of-26 on clearing attempts.
• RIT went 17-of-23 on faceoffs, 1-for-3 on man-up and had 51 ground balls.
• Sunday will be RIT's 14th appearance overall in the national semifinals and fifth straight.

 
WHAT'S NEXT:
RIT will face Dickinson on Sunday (May 18) at 5:00 p.m. in the semifinals with a berth in next Sunday's national championship game on the line.