Colorado College Falls to No. 3 RIT, 19-13, in NCAA Elite 8

Colorado College Falls to No. 3 RIT, 19-13, in NCAA Elite 8

(Story courtesy of Colorado College Athletic Communications)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The No. 16 Colorado College men's lacrosse team saw its history-making season come to end with a 19-13 loss to No. 3 RIT in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday afternoon.

However, CC left no doubt it is the dominant program in the West and why it deserved to be in the Elite 8 by staying even with RIT throughout the first 40 minutes.

Colorado College tied the score at 10-10 with 6:01 remaining in the third quarter on back-to-back goals by Anders Erickson and Isaac Atencio, but then RIT demonstrated why it is a threat to win the national championship by scoring five consecutive markers to build a 15-10 lead 1:07 into the fourth quarter.

Jack Haims stopped the streak with his second goal off of a feed from Luca Lietti, however the hosts answered with four more goals before Makay Hansen and Lietti scored for CC during the final two minutes.

RIT jumped out to a 5-2 lead early in the first quarter, but Colorado College tied the score for the first time at 5-5 on goals by Lietti, Haims and Noah Beecher.

The hosts took two more two-goal leads, only to watch as CC battle back to level the score.

Lietti led the Tigers with three goals, which matched his season high, and a career-best four points.

Dylan Wells produced three points with a goal and two assists for Colorado College.

Jacob Smith and Haims scored two goals apiece.  

Anders Erickson recorded a goal and an assist to finish the year with 86 points, which ranks third on the program's single-season list.

Erickson also is third with 44 single-season assists and tied for 14th with 42 single-season goals, and is just the second player in program history to record 40 or more goals and assists in the same season, joining Mike Alkaitis, who had 45 goals and 40 assists in 1990, on the exclusive list.

Sam DiMaio led the defensive effort with four ground balls and a caused turnover.

Charlie Harrington won 10 of 20 faceoffs and picked up a team-high six ground balls.

RIT finished with a 49-40 edge in total shots and a 38-22 advantage in ground balls.

CC finished the season with a 13-4 record while RIT improved to 12-0 and advanced to Sunday's national semifinal game against No. 1 Tufts University.
 
Colorado College Standouts
Ben Anastos stopped 14 shots for CC.
Dylan Wells recorded three ground balls and a caused turnover.
Billy Hutchison and Quinn Guevara each had two ground balls and a caused turnover.
 
RIT Standouts
Larson Sundown led RIT with five goals.
Dawson Tait produced four goals and three assists.
Walker Hare made 12 saves.
 
Notes
The game was CC's fourth of the season against a top-5 opponent in the USILA Coaches Poll and the first ever against RIT.

Colorado College earned the program's eight appearance in the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship.

CC's 13 victories are tied for the fourth-most in a single-season in the 58-year history of the program.

The game against RIT marks the second time CC faced a team ranked No. 3 in he NCAA Championship. CC dropped a 16-5 result at No. 3 Salisbury University in the second round in 2016 when the Sea Gulls went on to the national championship. CC also lost at eventual national champion Cabrini University, 21-10, in 2018.

Head coach Sean Woods recorded his 100th victory at CC with the 18-1 win at CSU Pueblo on March 15 and now holds school record with 109 victories.

It marks the third time the Tigers have won 13 matches in a season during Woods' 10 seasons as head coach. 

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