2008 ECAC Division III Upstate Men's Lacrosse Championship

Seeds
No. 1 Union College (12-4)
No. 2 Rochester Institute of Technology (10-7)
No. 3 St. John Fisher College (11-4)
No. 4 Nazareth College (8-6)

Semifinals - Thursday, May 8
Nazareth 15, Union 5 Box Score / Recap
RIT 16, St. John Fisher 6 Box Score / Recap

Championship - Sunday, May 11
Nazareth 16, RIT 9 Box Score

Bracket

Championship Game Recap

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The RIT men's lacrosse team was defeated by Nazareth College 16-9 in the title game of the 2008 ECAC Upstate Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship on Sunday afternoon at RIT Field. The Tigers finish their season with an 11-8 record, while the Golden Flyers finish their season with a 10-6 mark.

RIT out shot Nazareth 49-47, but ran into a hot Nazareth goalie in Todd Dermody who made 22 saves, earning Most Outstanding Player honors.

The Tigers won 17-of-28 face-offs and narrowly won the ground ball battle, 41-39. RIT went 1-for-3 with the extra-man, while stopping the Golden Flyers on seven of nine attempts.

RIT trailed 3-2 after the first quarter. The Golden Flyers led 1-0 before Andrew Ruocco scored the first of his two goals, tying the score at 1-1.

Ruocco tied the game at 2-2 with his second goal of the game on an assist from Kelso Davis with 5:58 remaining in the quarter.

Nazareth tallied a third goal with 1:32 remaining in the first to take a 3-2 lead after one quarter of play.

Kelso Davis quickly tied the score at 3-3 with his first goal of the afternoon coming 32 seconds into the second quarter on an assist from Wes Adam.

The Flyers took command of the quarter with three straight goals, taking a 6-3 lead with 10:21 remaining on a goal by Mark DiCirce.

Wes Adam ripped shot from outside, scoring his first goal of the afternoon, breaking the Nazareth run and cutting the lead to 6-4.

Adam struck again with 3:10 remaining in the half, cutting Nazareth's lead to 7-5 heading into half time.

The senior midfielder made it 7-6 with his third goal of the game 1:54 second into third quarter on an assist from Ruocco.

After a Nazareth goal made it 8-6 Dan Rago tallied an unassisted goal with 3:29 remaining in the third.

The Flyers broke the game open late in the third quarter with three consecutive goals, taking an 11-7 lead on an unassisted goal by Mark Kanellis.

Adam Vlassis and Adam each scored goals in the fourth quarter but it wasn't enough as Nazareth tallied five goals in the quarter to make it 16-9.

Adam finished with five points on four goals and an assist to lead the Tigers. Ruocco had six points on two goals and four assists and Kelso Davis had a goal and an assist.

Brad Conlon got the start in net allowing seven goals and making six saves. Kevin Rattigan played the final 31:21 and allowed nine goals and made 10 saves. Jacob Brunner won 17-of-28 face-offs and had a team-high 10 ground balls.