RIT’s Jordan Colins-Hartwig looks for an open player during Saturday’s game against Keuka College.
Neal Danis

Dark skies and chilling temperatures loomed over RIT’s turf field on Saturday, March 12 as the men’s lacrosse team, ranked sixth, took to the field against the Keuka College Storm. However gloomy, the weather could do nothing to dampen the Tigers’ energy as they went on to crush the Storm 18-6. With their win, the Tigers improved to 3-0 on the season while the Storm evened their record at 1-1 overall.

The Tigers dominated control of the ball throughout the game, winning 16 of 27 face- offs and securing 43 out of 69 ground balls. This control, combined with impeccable teamwork and solid technique, led the Tigers to a seemingly easy victory. RIT scoring was led by third year Business Management major Tyler Russell and Jordan Collins-Hartwig, a third year Electrical Engineering major, who both scored an impressive four goals each. Other offensive leaders for the Tigers were fourth year Business Management major MJ Kiekebelt, and fourth year Graphic Design major Kelso Davis, with two goals apiece.

Kiekebelt got the Tigers off to an impressive start, scoring the first goal of the game after a little more than a minute of play. Thirty seconds later, Russell swept in and secured the Tigers’ second goal. Within minutes, first year Business Management major Kyle Aquin made it 3-0 for the Tigers. After several minutes spent trading possession, Keuka’s first year Scott Miller charged through the Tigers’ defense to put the Storm on the board. It would be their only goal for the remainder of the first half. The Tigers maintained solid control through the end of the first period with goals scored by Iric Bressler, a fourth year Mechanical Engineering major, and third year Industrial Design major A. J. Tingle.

The Tigers dominated the second period, denying Keuka any scoring opportunities while racking up six of their own goals, three of which came from Collins-Hartwig. Kiekebelt picked up another goal for the Tigers as did Tom Riley, a third year Finance and Marketing major, and Ryan Speciale, a third year Electrical Engineering major. At the end of the first period, the Tigers had a dominating 11—1 lead over the Storm.

The Storm seemed to find another gear on resumption of play during the third period, managing to score four goals while holding RIT to just one. Second year Mark Butto was the first of the Storm to find the back of the net less than two minutes into the period. It was followed up with a goal by third year Mason Brown less than a minute later. Brown then found the net twice more to round out his hat trick and finish scoring for the period. RIT’s lone goal of the period was scored by Collins-Hartwig.

The Tigers got back on their game with the start of the final period, wracking up another six goals while limiting the Storm to just one. RIT’s six straight goals were scored by Russell, Davis and Alex Crepinsek, a third year Hospitality and Service Management major. Keuka’s fourth year Jaime Conway finished out the scoring for the game, bringing the final score to 18-6 for RIT.