The No. 1 RIT (16-1, 8-0 Liberty League) men's lacrosse team clinched the Liberty League regular season title for the eighth straight season with a 12-9 win over No. 12 Union College (12-2, 7-1 Liberty League) in the regular season finale Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers are the number one seed in the upcoming Liberty League Tournament. Shots were 35-31 in favor of RIT. The Tigers held a slight 36-32 ground ball edge, while winning 12-of-24 face-offs. RIT went 18-of-22 on clearing attempts, and were 1-of-6 on man-up chances. Ryan Barnable (Whitby, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) and Shawn Nally (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) each tallied three goals. Barnable handed out a pair of assists, while Ryan Rosenblum (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) tallied two goals. Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) improved to 16-1 on the season, making 11 saves. Nick Montemorano (Victor, NY/Victor) won 12-of-24 draws and led the Tigers with six ground balls. Tanner Irwin (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan Academy), Trevor Smyth (Orangeville, Ontario/The Kiski School) and Julien Guay (Oakville, Ontario/The Hill Academy) each caused two turnovers and Chandler Allen (Ilderon, Ontario/Medway) scooped up four ground balls. Keaton McCann led Union with three goals. Brian Davis and Jack Sullivan each scored twice, and Jack Santilli took the loss in net for the Dutchmen, making seven saves. RIT led 2-1 after the first quarter. Goals from Nally and Ryan Tandy (Montrose, NY/Hendrick-Hudson) gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead, but McCann scored late in the quarter, cutting the Tigers lead to 2-1. Brian Davis opened the scoring in the second quarter on his goal at the 13:38 mark that tied the score at 2-2. Barnable broke the Dutchmen run with his unassisted goal that gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Sullivan tied the score at 3-3 on his goal with 7:17 to play in the half, and Nally converted a man-up chance for RIT, scoring off a an assist from Dawson Tait (Ottawa, Ontario/Mother Teresa) with 4:52 to play in the quarter to give the Tigers a 4-3 halftime lead. RIT and Union combined for 12 third quarter goals. Chris Brown (Homer, NY/Homer) opened the third-quarter tallied on a transition goal, scoring off an assist from Smyth that increased the RIT lead to 5-3. Rosenblum gave the Tigers a 6-3 lead on his goal at the 12:45 mark. After a Sullivan goal cut the RIT lead to 6-4, the Tigers ran off two straight goals, Barnable made the score 7-4, RIT and moments later, fed Matt Pogue (Mississauga, Ontario/St. Paul Secondary), who scored to give the Tigers an 8-4 lead with 9:21 to play in the quarter. The Dutchmen came storming back, tallying three straight goals that cut the RIT lead to 8-7. McCann cut the Tigers lead to 8-5 on his second goal of the game, and Hayden Frye made it an 8-6 deficit on his goal on Union's next possession. A Brian Davis goal with 5:52 to play in the third quarter cut RIT's lead to one goal. RIT answered with a two-goal run of its own, taking a 10-7 lead on a Nally goal with 2:11 to play in the frame. An Aidan Flood goal cut the RIT lead to 10-8, but Barnable drove and scored his third of the game with 10 seconds to play in the quarter that extended the Tigers lead to 11-8. McCann scored early in the fourth quarter, cutting the RIT lead to 11-9 on his third goal of the game with 13:31 to play. Each team had its share of chances in the fourth quarter, but could not capitalize until Rosenblum scored a driving goal with 2:48 remaining in regulation to make it a 12-9 final. RIT, the top seed in next week's Liberty League Tournament, will host a semifinal game on Wednesday, May 1. Stay tuned to www.ritathletics.com for opponent and game time.