The Geneseo men's lacrosse team suffered another overtime loss on Saturday, falling 11-10 to No. 4-ranked Rochester Institute of Technology.
"The game was certainly played in stages," said head coach Jim Lyons. "As much as you see the runs, I think it was a really evenly played game. It was two very good teams battling it out from start to finish."
RIT built a 2-1 lead in the first quarter as the Knights struggled on the clear. Geneseo stayed in the game despite succeeding on only four of nine chances in the period.
"We gave up multiple possessions but we were able to play lockdown defense," Lyons said. "The difference in clearing for us was patience. Once we took a breath and recognized that there's a big field and they can use all of it and be successful."
The Knights scored seven of the next eight goals to bring the score to 8-3. Junior Brendan Kurpis scored four of the team's first eight goals, two of them on a man-up situation.
"Just about everything we do on man-up ends with an option for [Kurpis]," Lyons said. "The man-up group, to their credit, had to read and react and they did a real nice job."
Geneseo's man-up went three for four on the game and held RIT's man-up successes to only one of five opportunities.
"I was really pleased with both units," Lyons said. "I was really proud that our man-down unit was able to adjust, and that comes from leadership."
After falling behind in the second, RIT went on a run to tie the game at nine in the fourth. Senior Craig Lange gave the Blue Knights the edge with his 10th goal of the year; Lange leads the team in points with 23 on the season. Less than a minute after Lange's goal, RIT responded with a goal of its own to send the game into overtime.
RIT scored the winning goal two minutes into overtime to pick up the 11-10 victory. Freshman Ryan Zaremba made 14 saves in the loss. Senior Ray Ryan contributed four points through two goals and two assists, and seniors Bobby King and Evan Bryant added a goal and an assist each.
"The biggest change in our team is our recognition that we're as good as anybody out there. We just have to come to play every day," Lyons said. "Saturday showed us we can play with the best in the country. We are competing hard now but we have to realize that you have to compete to win, not just to compete and take that next step."
With Saturday's loss, the Knights drop to 3-4 on the season. The Knights open SUNYAC play on Saturday when they go on the road to face SUNY Oswego.