The Hope College men's lacrosse team tried to tame the third-ranked Tigers of Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Flying Dutchmen could not match RIT and lost their NCAA Division III Tournament second-round game, 23-9, on Friday in Rochester, N.Y.

Hope, the MIAA regular-season and tournament champions, closed the season with a 13-4 overall record. RIT (18-2) advanced to host Babson College (Mass.) in a third-round showdown on Saturday, May 11.

Head coach Michael Schanhals said RIT "did all the things we do well, but a little bit better."

'That turned out to be a lot of possessions for them early in the game. They converted on those chances. Any time we made a little mistake they made a big impact and scored," Schanhals said. "We fought hard. We made some really nice plays. We competed. That was a very good team."

RIT never trailed after jumping out to a 2-0 lead during the first 2 minutes, 56 seconds.

Hope twice cut RIT's lead to one goal over the next 5-plus minutes on goals from junior midfielders Nick McCreery (Rockford, Michigan / Rockford HS) and Caden Brainard (Muskegon, Michigan / Reeths-Puffer).

RIT struck four times over the next six minutes to break open the game. The Tigers extended their lead to 12-5 by halftime.

Eight different Tigers recorded multiple goals. Kaden Brunson led the attack with four goals. Seventeen of RIT's goals were credited with assists.

Senior attacker Michael Mann (Plymouth, Michigan / University of Detroit-Jesuit) scored a career-high five points for the Flying Dutchmen with four goals and one assist.

Hope's all-time goals, assists and points leader completed his career with 195 goals, 112 assists and 307 points.

McCreery chipped in two goals. Brainard, junior attacker Sam Bowen (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Eastern) and freshman long-stick midfielder Drew Curran (Parker, Colorado / Legend) added one goal apiece.

Schanhals expressed gratitude for everything the Flying Dutchmen gave this season.

"The work ethic they exhibited from day one in the fall all the way through the winter — and in the weight room," Schanhals said. "They were just getting after it every day with smiles on their faces. I'm pleased that I had the opportunity to coach this team. We had excellent senior leadership and a deep, talented group of young men."

The game marked the finale for seven seniors: Mann, Raymo Blancato (Harbor Springs, Michigan / Green Mountain Valley), Sean Cunningham (South Lyon, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central), Nate Jobson (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland West), Michael Mileski (Inverness, Illinois / William Fremd), Marco Mularoni (Brighton, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central), and media specialist Cam Houck (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian).

As a class, the seniors went 44-15 over the past four seasons with three MIAA Tournament titles and two MIAA regular-season championships.