ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Ursinus Men's Lacrosse team was unable to overcome a big second half from No. 2 RIT in 17-11 setback on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
The Tigers scored two goals in the first 1:18 of the contest to gain the early advantage but Ursinus countered with goals from junior
Christopher Pucciarelli and sophomore
Harry Sweitzer to tie things up at two at the 10:39-mark of the first quarter. The high-scoring first quarter continued with back-to-back goals from RIT that put them up 4-2 at the 9:46-mark that was answered by three in a row from Ursinus. Sophomore
Aidan Kirk started the run and Pucciarelli tied things at four at the 6:56-mark. Senior
Brett Wilkinson put the Bears in front for the first time in the game at 5-4 with 5:29 left in the first quarter. The Tigers beat the horn to tie things back up at five headed into the second quarter and scored immediately on the opening faceoff to go back up 6-5. However, senior
Drake Kasoff knotted the game at six just over a minute later and first-year
Jared Laskin put Ursinus back ahead at 7-6 with 11:15 left in the second quarter. RIT wasted little time to tie the game at seven before Sweitzer scored at the 7:47-mark to give the Bears the lead back. Ursinus held down the Tigers for the remainder of the first half and held their advantage into the half. However, RIT scored four straight goals to start the second half which proved to be the decisive run of the game. Ursinus would only get within three goals the rest of the way as their potential upset bid was ended.
RIT held a 44-34 shot advantage for the game and a 29-20 edge in shots on goal. The Tigers also held a 40-30 advantage in ground balls and a slight edge in faceoff wins at 16-12. Senior goalkeeper
Jonathan Singer made 12 saves for the Bears in the full 60 minutes while Sweitzer led the team with five points behind three goals and two assists. Kasoff added three points with a pair of assists and a goal while Kirk plus Pucciarelli notched two goals apiece.
The Bears return to action on Saturday, March 16th as they will host St. John Fisher at 3:00 p.m.
