Player-led turning point fuels sixth trip to NCAA lacrosse championship

On a Monday in mid-April after a pair of tough losses dropped the RIT men’s lacrosse team to 8-4 on the season, the players decided to create their own spark.

They sent the coaches home for the day, and the team captains called an impromptu captain’s practice session.

“It was the toughest practice I’ve ever been a part of,” said goalie and co-captain Alex Zborowski ’26 (management information systems), a Toronto native. “We kicked the absolute crap out of each other. Every guy went out there and gave 100 percent and proved to ourselves what we’re capable of.”

RIT now finds itself in familiar territory, heading to the NCAA Division III national championship game on May 24. This is the sixth trip for the Tigers all-time, and the fourth in the last six years. They’ll take on Tufts, defending national champions, at Scott Stadum in Charlottesville, Va., at noon.

This Tiger squad is notable in a few ways. For a program that has grown accustomed to postseason contests in Rochester, the team will tally 2,453 postseason miles on the road when they arrive in Charlottesville—roughly the distance between New York and San Diego. They defeated Elmhurst, Salisbury, Babson, and Bowdoin to advance to the championship game.

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Traci Westcott/RIT

RIT graduate defenseman and team co-captain Jamie Hunt, center, is no stranger to the NCAA championship game, having been to the 2021, 2022, and 2024 contests.

The Tigers have found ways to embrace the journey. The late start time for some matchups gave the players time to relax, including a bowling outing the morning of the Salisbury contest. Walking through the trees onto Bowdoin’s field for their semifinal matchup against the hosts in Maine, the team decided to march out together singing “Your Love” by The Outfield—catching the home crowd completely off guard.

“The other team was looking at us like, ‘Who are these guys?’” said Ryan Sanders, a second-year mechanical engineering student from San Francisco. “It helped break the tension before the game and you realize—we’re here, and it’s fun to play playoff lacrosse.”

This group of road warriors are also one of the younger RIT squads to make the championship game. The Tigers sport nine seniors and graduate students, compared to 19, 22, or even 28 in recent championship runs this decade.

Jamie Hunt ’24, ’26 MS (criminal justice) is the lone holdover from RIT’s championship runs in 2021 and 2022. The three-year captain will make his fourth appearance in the championship game on Sunday, the final game of his RIT career. He will look to join the police force in his native Orangeville, Ontario, after the contest.

“It's going to be really loud,” said Hunt on the championship game atmosphere. “We emphasized to the guys that you have to take a moment and just soak it in, appreciate where you are, and understand that you're in this phenomenal atmosphere surrounded by people who love and support you. Then change your focus right back to the game.”

“Jamie is pretty much like a coach on the field,” said RIT head coach Jake Coon. “Off the field, he's even better with the guys. He knows how to handle things in the locker room where we're not necessarily present. That's been invaluable for a young group like this.”

The Tigers will stick to the same script in preparation for a familiar opponent in Tufts. These two teams have dominated the sport this decade—the Tigers won titles in 2021 and 2022, while Tufts is looking for a three-peat with titles in 2024 and 2025. Coon’s message heading into Sunday is simple: Be grateful, play free and fast, and trust what got you here.

“I wouldn’t trade going on the road for anything this year,” added Zborowski, who looks to continue his growing apparel brand, That a Boy, after the season. “It doesn’t matter what path you take, as long as you get there. This has been the best few weeks of my life.”