Player-led midseason practice shift sparks RIT men’s lacrosse surge toward sixth NCAA Division III championship appearance in program history

Rochester, New York – A quiet turning point in mid-April has grown into one of the defining moments of the RIT men’s lacrosse season, pushing the Tigers all the way to the NCAA Division III national championship game and marking yet another deep postseason run for a program that has become a regular force on the national stage.

It did not look like a turning-point moment at first glance. The team had just come through a pair of tough losses that dropped RIT to 8-4 on the season. Momentum was slipping, confidence was being tested, and the pressure of expectations was beginning to settle in. But instead of letting the season drift, the players made a decision that changed everything.

On a Monday in mid-April, the Tigers took control of their own direction. The players sent the coaches home for the day and organized a captain-led practice session. It was not routine, not light, and not carefully scripted. It was raw, intense, and fully player-driven.

“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.”

That single practice has since taken on almost symbolic meaning inside the program. It reflected a shift in tone, responsibility, and urgency. From that point forward, RIT began to look less like a team searching for answers and more like one determined to impose its identity on every opponent it faced.

Now, weeks later, that same group finds itself heading to Charlottesville, Virginia, for the NCAA Division III national championship game on May 24. It is the sixth championship appearance in program history and the fourth in just the last six seasons, further cementing RIT’s place among the sport’s elite programs at this level.

The opponent waiting there is familiar and formidable. RIT will face Tufts, the defending national champions, in a matchup between two programs that have shaped the landscape of Division III lacrosse this decade. The Tigers captured titles in 2021 and 2022, while Tufts enters the game chasing a third consecutive championship following victories in 2024 and 2025.

Read also: Governor Hochul unveils $15 million initiative to expand innovative building electrification and energy efficiency projects across New York

The path to the title game has not been easy, and it has not been close to home either. RIT has traveled thousands of miles through the postseason, compiling roughly 2,453 postseason travel miles by the time they arrive in Charlottesville. That journey, in a way, has become part of the team’s identity this year.

They have defeated Elmhurst, Salisbury, Babson, and Bowdoin to reach the championship stage, each game bringing a different challenge and atmosphere. Along the way, the Tigers have leaned into the unpredictability of life on the road, turning travel routines and away environments into fuel rather than fatigue.

There have been lighter moments mixed into the intensity of playoff competition. On one game day with a late start, the team spent part of the morning bowling together before facing Salisbury. It was a brief break from pressure, but one that helped reset the mood inside a young roster still learning how to navigate deep postseason runs.

Even their semifinal trip to Bowdoin carried a moment that captured the looseness and confidence growing within the group. As they walked onto the field in Maine, the Tigers broke into song, marching out together while singing “Your Love” by The Outfield. The moment caught the home crowd off guard and reflected a team that was not just focused, but comfortable in its own skin.

“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.”

Read also: Henrietta Zoning Board of Appeals to review wide range of residential and commercial variance requests on June 3

That balance between seriousness and enjoyment has become one of RIT’s defining traits this season. It is a team that works hard, but also understands how to keep things loose under pressure. In a tournament where every possession can swing momentum, that mindset has proven valuable.

This year’s squad is also one of the younger teams RIT has brought to a championship game in recent memory. The roster includes just nine seniors and graduate students, significantly fewer than past title-contending groups that featured 19, 22, or even 28 veteran players. That youth has forced leadership to emerge in different ways and from different places.

At the center of that leadership group is Jamie Hunt ’24, ’26 MS (criminal justice), the lone remaining player from RIT’s championship teams in 2021 and 2022. A three-year captain, Hunt is preparing for his fourth appearance in a national championship game, which will also serve as the final game of his college career.

After graduation, Hunt plans to return to his hometown of Orangeville, Ontario, where he hopes to join the police force. Before that next chapter begins, he has one more opportunity to leave his mark on a program he has helped guide through some of its most successful years.

“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.”

His presence, according to head coach Jake Coon, extends far beyond statistics or on-field performance. It is the steadiness he brings to a relatively young locker room, and the way he handles leadership in spaces coaches cannot always reach.

“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.”

As championship weekend approaches, RIT is expected to stick closely to the formula that has carried them this far. Preparation will remain steady, familiar, and grounded in routine. The message from the coaching staff has been consistent: stay grateful, play free and fast, and trust the work that has already been done.

That mindset has carried the Tigers through close games, long travel days, and emotional swings throughout the postseason. It is also what they believe will carry them into one more defining performance against a familiar rival.

“I wouldn’t trade going on the road for anything this year,” added Zborowski, who also looks to continue building his 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.”

For a team that once reset its season with a player-run practice in April, the journey now arrives at its final destination. One game remains, one opponent stands in the way, and one more opportunity awaits to turn a season of grit, travel, and self-belief into a championship moment.