Latest Chapter in Men's Lacrosse legacy to be written Sunday

by Tim Volkmann

Luke Pilcher knew RIT was exactly where he wanted to play lacrosse the first time he set foot on campus. However, he would have to wait a while since the NCAA typically frowns upon 10 year olds playing intercollegiate athletics.
 
Fast-forward over 14 years to this coming Sunday when Pilcher will pull a Tiger jersey over his head one last time in hopes of helping the team earn a third national championship in four years.
 
Pilcher and his family used to make the two-and-a-half-hour trek from their native Oakville, Ontario, to watch his two-time All-American brother, Dan MacRae '10, run up and down the field in RIT orange. Now it will be MacRae, who went on to a standout 12-year professional career, doing the cheering in Philadelphia this weekend as his two-time All-American younger sibling runs around Lincoln Financial Field when the Tigers face Tufts at 1 p.m.
 
"I didn't miss a game back then and I remember watching Dan pull on his jersey for the last time," recalled Pilcher. "Now everything has come full circle and I'm about to play my last game in front of our family. It will be emotional for sure, but will hopefully be a fun ending."
 
Ask any member of the program, past or present, and they will tell you the team's culture is what makes being a Tiger so special and also drives alumni to stay engaged, even when it has been over a decade since they last played. It also plays a major role in attracting players like Pilcher, who is currently third in program history with 292 points and is only the second Tiger to eclipse the 200-goal plateau with 206 to date.
 
"I saw how close Dan and his teammates were and how much it meant to them to play together, so it was always RIT for me," Pilcher continued. "This program has the tightest alumni group out there. Guys my brother played with still get together to watch games and, while their wives and girlfriends probably tell them it might be time to move on, it shows you the type of bonds you form when you are here and the community that you are a part of."

WHO: RIT (21-2) vs. Tufts (17-3)
WHAT: NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse National Championship Game
WHEN: Sunday, May 26th – 1:00 PM
WHERE: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
WATCH: NCAA.com/live
WHAT'S AT STAKE: A victory would clinch RIT's third national championship in four years after winning the first titles in program history in 2021 and 2022.
 
Mike Grace pulled an RIT jersey over his head for the first time early in the 2021 season. Hailing from Hamilton, Ontario, – a stone's throw from Pilcher in Oakville – the current senior defenseman found his way to Rochester after his junior team coach said he should give RIT a look. That coach? Former RIT standout Dan MacRae.
 
"I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do next, but Coach MacRae and some other former RIT players I met told me about their experiences and I fell in love on my first visit," said Grace. "This is a top-notch program I would put up against any other team in the country, including Division I."
 
RIT Head Coach Jake Coon realized that after watching Grace play as an attackman as a first-year, his talents might translate into playing at the other end of the field. The move seems to have paid off as Grace has started all but two games the last three seasons at close defense, including all 23 during the Tigers' run to the 2022 national championship. He should be a lock for his third-consecutive All-America honor this year.

Grace will also have the opportunity to trade one orange jersey for another next year, using his extra season of eligibility granted to all lacrosse players by the NCAA following the coronavirus pandemic while working toward a graduate degree at perennial Division-I power Syracuse. 
 
"The legacy Coach Coon and (Assistant Coach Shawn Wilkins) have created, and the culture and expectations they established are what really make RIT such a great program and the reason it is so successful. They had the confidence in me to make me a starter and I was going to grind and fight for that spot and prove them right. Now looking back, it is crazy how fast it has all gone. Emotions will by high this Sunday as this will be my last time playing for RIT, my last time playing with this group of players, and the last time we will all be together. It will be a special game."
 
John Mozrall remembers a game that wasn't so special but that set the tone for the rest of his time as a Tiger. It was the first time he pulled on an RIT jersey during his first road trip with the team before the spring had even considered springing in the northeast.
 
"We drove six hours to play at Ohio Wesleyan and it may have been one of the worst weather games we've ever had," grimaced Mozrall. "It was cold and windy. And then it rained and then turned to hail and then went back to rain. I was a first-year, so I wasn't playing much, but we built a big enough lead, the coaches started putting the bench players in by the fourth quarter. I got in during the last minute but was so cold while I was running around, I couldn't feel my legs."
 
Since that day, the two-time captain has warmed up many an opposing midfielder, recently becoming only the 11th player in program history to notch 100 assists to highlight an All-American career. But it took warming up to some of the original guidance he received from someone when he started his college search for this RIT story to even exist. And, believe it or not, she indeed knew best.
 
"My mom always told me and my sisters about RIT, but we always just wanted to get the heck out of here and go someplace else," smiled Mozrall, referring to Jacqueline Mozrall, dean of Saunders College of Business who has been part of the RIT community for over 25 years. "But as you start weighing your decisions, you see all the opportunities this place has to offer, including a lacrosse team that competes at a high level year after year. I was lucky enough to be offered a spot on the team by Coach Coon and, while I may have looked at other places at first, RIT in the end was a no-brainer in so many ways."
 
Sunday will be the last time Mozrall gets to take the field wearing RIT on his chest. And he wouldn't have had it any other way.
 
"The culture that players who came before us set up is second to none," Mozrall said. "The unity and bonding and the familiarity with each other, it is just amazing. Guys want to perform well, not just for themselves and their teammates, but for the alumni. There is no better way to go out than playing in front of them in the final game of the year. We want to make them proud, and we play with that much more enthusiasm every day we pull on that jersey, whether it's the first time or the last."

Tim Volkmann is the Director of Athletic Communications at RIT