Rochester, NY – Ryan DaRin and Ryan St. Croix each scored three times, but it wasn't enough for the Clarkson University Men's Lacrosse team, which came up short against third-ranked RIT, 15-10, in the squad's Liberty League opener on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights dropped to 2-5 overall, but the team will look to use the solid showing against the Tigers as momentum as the team embarks on the remainder of the conference slate in April.

Though RIT held a 16-5 edge in shots in the first quarter, the Knights made the most of their opportunities, scoring twice on those shots with both Ryan St. Croix and J.R. Campbell tallying in the early going. In the second quarter, RIT scored three times to Clarkson's single goal (from Ryan DaRin) to take a 7-3 lead into the locker room.

Clarkson kept the game close at the start of the third quarter, even with the Tigers scoring three times in the first five minutes, as the Knights stayed within striking distance at a deficit of 10-5. However, it was the final eight minutes where RIT put the game away, scoring three more times in a span of just 2:33 to push the margin to 13-5. The Knights won the fourth quarter, 5-2, as DaRin scored twice and St. Croix added another before Scott Dosser scored the final two goals in the waning moments for Clarkson.

RIT held significant advantages in virtually every category, starting with wins on 21 of the 28 faceoffs. The Tigers led in shots 50-35, including a 40-19 edge through the first three periods, and in groundballs 46-24.

DaRin and St. Croix each added three goals to their season totals, while Dosser led the team with four points on two goals and two assists. J.R. Campbell also added a goal and an assist and Sam Groves assisted on a pair of goals for Clarkson. Both St. Croix and Campbell each recorded three groundballs, as well, as did Marc Simmons and Austin Case. Nick Strandholm led the team by corralling five groundballs in the Clarkson crease to go along with his 15 saves.

For RIT, Chad Levick scored four times and Kyle Sterzin added three points and six groundballs. Ryan Lee also scored four points on two goals and a pair of assists. Steven Ricci won 14 of his 19 faceoff attempts and scooped up a game-high eight groundballs. Nick Nesbitt made 11 saves in the RIT crease, allowing six goals in 52 minutes, 9 seconds. Jon Berg stopped four shots in the final 7:51, but also allowed four goals.