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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- After junior Troy Haefele pulled visiting Nazareth to within two goals, 11-9, only 3:33 into the fourth quarter, RIT answered with three consecutive goals in less than five minutes to pull away from the Golden Flyers on Tuesday afternoon. The Tigers went on to defeat Nazareth 15-10 victory in the non-conference men's lacrosse game. Haefele finished with a team-high three goals.

With the loss, second-ranked RIT snaps 19th-ranked Nazareth's seven-game winning streak and drops the Golden Flyers to 9-3 overall. With the victory, the Tigers remain undefeated and improve to 12-0 overall. The Golden Flyers' other two losses have been by one goal.

After allowing the Tigers a four-goal lead in the first quarter, the Golden Flyers answered with three scores in a row in under four minutes to pull within one goal with 2:41 to play in the period. Haefele, who leads Nazareth with 30 goals, put the Golden Flyers on the board after receiving a pass from classmate Luke Wooters. Less than two minutes later, Wooters recorded an unassisted goal, which was his 25th of the season. Wooters found sophomore Hunter Burdick, who buried his seventh goal of the season to cap Nazareth's run.

Before the end of the first period, however, RIT's Matt Hossack and Allister Warren had a goal apiece to give the Tigers a 6-3 lead at the end of the first.

After the teams combined for nine goals in the opening 15 minutes, Will Fallo scored the only goal of the second quarter. The senior's scoring chance was set up by Wooters with just over a minute to play in the half. The second period marked the first time this season that RIT has been held without a goal for a full quarter. Nazareth's defense held the Tigers without a goal for nearly 18 straight minutes. RIT entered the week ranked first in Division III in scoring with an average of 17.55 goals per game.

After senior Drew Simoneau won the faceoff to start the third quarter, sophomore Luke Longo scored an unassisted goal only 14 seconds into the period. Longo's goal cut Nazareth's deficit to 6-5. The potent Tigers's offense responded with a 5-0 scoring run in only 5:26 to stretch RIT's advantage to six goals, which was its largest of the game.

Following the Tigers' scoring run, the Golden Flyers pulled themselves back into the contest with four consecutive goals to bring them to within 11-9 in the opening minutes of the fourth. Sophomore Nick Arnold started the offense with an unassisted goal with 5:21 to play in the third. Junior Matt O'Neill converted a man-up opportunity after collecting a pass from Fallo to cut RIT's lead to 11-7 with just over two minutes left in the third. Haefele opened the fourth with consecutive goals in a span of 1:09 to bring Nazareth to within two scores of tying the game. Both of Haefele's goals came on man-up opportunities after RIT's goalie Pat Johnston was whistled for an illegal check. Jarryd Lee replaced Johnston between the Tigers' pipes. Wooters earned the assist on the first, and Fallo collected the assist on the second.

RIT's Aquin and Kyle Sterzin combined for the next three goals to add to the Tigers' lead. With 3:33 to play in regulation, senior Matt McDermott converted Nazareth's third man-up chance of the quarter to cut the Golden Flyers' deficit to 14-10.

RIT surged to the 4-0 lead in the opening 7:56 of Tuesday's game. Eddie Kiesa, entering the contest ranked third on the team in goals and total points, tallied the first two goals. Aquin and Dan LoBosco each added another goal in a 42-second span.

Sophomore Michael Cuciti recorded a career-high 12 saves in the loss. Johnston earned the victory with 11 saves.

Both teams tallied 34 total shots. RIT had a 34-26 advantage in ground balls collected, and the Tigers' defense forced 14 Nazareth turnovers. The Golden Flyers allowed RIT only three man-up chances and held the Tigers scoreless on them. Nazareth finished 4-11 on man-up chances.

With Simoneau's dominance on faceoffs, Nazareth finished with a 20-9 advantage in the category. Entering the contest, Simoneau ranked second nationally with a faceoff win percentage of .738. Additionally, Simoneau grabbed 13 ground balls to lead all players. Coming into the week's games, he ranked fifth in the nation in ground balls per game with an average of 9.0 per contest.

The Golden Flyers are in action again on Saturday when they host Ithaca in a crucial Empire 8 game. Both teams are undefeated in conference games. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Nazareth's Upper Field.