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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Junior attackman
Mark DeCirce scored four goals and junior goalie
Todd Dermody made 18 saves Saturday as Nazareth outscored host RIT in men's lacrosse, 12-10, to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot for next weekend's Empire 8 Conference Tournament.
The Golden Flyers improved to 8-6 overall and completed their conference schedule with a 5-3 record. As the fourth seed for next week's tournament, Nazareth will play Friday at top-seeded Ithaca at 4 p.m. Second-seeded Stevens will host St. John Fisher in the other semifinal. The winners meet for the E8 title Sunday at a time to be determined. Ithaca gained the top seed Saturday with an 11-10 win at Stevens. RIT, eliminated from playoff contention, is 9-6 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
In winning Saturday, Nazareth never trailed and built a seven-goal advantage early in the fourth quarter before RIT rallied by scoring the last five goals in the final 3:15.
Senior midfielder
Sean Dennison scored two goals and added three assists. Attackmen
Joe Jacobs-Ferderbar and
C.J. Estes each added two goals. Sophomore
R.J. Gringeri won 12 of 23 face-offs and collected 11 ground balls. Long-stick defender
Kyle Brown had six ground balls and
Mitchel Frey had four with four caused turnovers.
DeCirce scored Nazareth's first three goals, including an extra-man marker off an assist from Jacobs-Ferderbar to open the second-quarter scoring. Dennison also scored in the second quarter as Nazareth held a slim 4-3 lead at the break.
After RIT tied the score on a man-up goal by David Burke :17 into the third quarter, Nazareth rattled off six straight goals, including a man-up goal by
Erinn O'Hara with 6:29 to go in the period and a short-handed goal by Estes with :04 left to make the score 10-4.
After RIT closed to within 10-5 early in the fourth quarter, Nazareth scored twice to take its largest lead of the game at 12-5. Jacobs-Ferderbar converted a pass from O'Hara with 10:10 left, then less than a minute later -- with 9:17 left -- senior
Alex Cole, from behind the goal, delivered a pass to a fast-breaking Dennison for Nazareth's 12th and final goal.
Some sloppy possessions in the closing minutes enabled RIT to finish with a flurry, but the Tigers had built too large a deficit to complete the comeback.
Dermody's 18 saves included eight in the fourth quarter. He also helped thwart RIT on 4 of 5 extra-man opportunities. Burke and Adam Vlassis each scored two goals for RIT.
Nazareth is home Tuesday for its final regular-season game against Keuka at 4 p.m.