BALTIMORE -- A goalie, by definition, is the hunted -- except against New York Institute of Technology, which downed defending Division II men's lacrosse champion Limestone, 9-4, in a rematch of last year's title game May 25 at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium.

The game was played in front of a record turnstile crowd of 15,417, obliterating the old mark of 2,180, set in 2001 at Rutgers' Yurcak Field.

NYIT's championship is its second in four title-game appearances. The Bears won their first crown in 1997.

Against the Bears, the goalie is the hunter -- Matt Hunter. Just about everything NYIT does, including offensive transition to fast breaks, runs through the athletic left-handed stopper.

"I give a lot of credit to our coaches and players but if any one player deserves the credit for our record (14-0, the only undefeated team in any division), it's Matty Hunter," said coach Jack Kaley, who also coached the Bears to their other title-game appearances. "He's been like he was today for most of his career. He's saved our butts so many times, and when a goalie does that it gives the entire team confidence."

Hunter, who finished with 12 saves and was named the most outstanding player of the game, stopped five of the six Saints' shots that were on target in the first half, helping hold the defending champs to one goal at intermission, the stingiest performance in a half in title-game history. The game as a whole also ended up being the lowest-scoring contest in championship-game history, beating the previous mark of 11-7 set in 1993 when Adelphi beat C.W. Post.

"We knew he was a good goalie," said Limestone's Devan Spilker, who was last year's most outstanding player. "He's got the quickest hands we've seen. We were putting it right on his hip on his off-stick side and he was still stopping them. It's hard to put it in when the goalie is that hot."

Saints coach T.W. Johnson, who has led the team to the title game in each of his two years as coach, said his team, which finished 14-2, generally scores goals in bunches but was never able to find the target much. And when it did, Hunter was there.

"We missed a lot of shots early and then (Hunter) started making a lot of saves," Johnson said.

NYIT also had trouble scoring early. The Bears looked as though they would carry a 3-1 lead into halftime until Paul Montali's second goal of the game came with 29 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Bears scored four unanswered goals over the next 18 minutes to extend their lead to six before Limestone mounted a mini rally to close within four with 7:02 left in the game. NYIT then closed with three consecutive goals.

The game marked the first time the division's title game was played on the same field as the Division I and III games. Men's lacrosse is the only team sport that holds all three divisional championships at the same site. (Women's rowing, a team/individual sport, holds its three championships at the same site). The Division II title game had been played on a smaller stadium adjacent to the main stadium on the same campus as the other two games since 1998. The reason for that was the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Committee's belief that the fields in the larger stadium would not hold up for one more game if there was rain.

Playing in the NFL-quality facility where the Baltimore Ravens play their home games gave the committee the confidence to move the game to the main stage for the first time. Despite steady rain, counting the all-session sales and walk-up tickets for the Division II game, paid attendance was 33,023. Because the Division II game had never before been part of the all-session ticket package, the paid attendance and turnstile attendance had previously been equal.

"This venue has made for a great weekend for lacrosse," Kaley said. "For us, it's been very special to be a part of it. We've played in rain and snow all year, so that part of it was nothing different."

Playing in front of some 15,000? Now that's different.

Championship

NYIT scoring: Tom Zummo 2, Joe Gabrysiak 2, Paul Montali 2, Sean Meagher 2, Joseph Vasold 1.

Limestone scoring: Devan Spilker 2, Robert Woody 2.

Shots: NYIT 24, Limestone 32. Saves: NYIT -- Matt Hunter 12; Limestone -- Matt Malloy 9. Attendance (turnstile): 15,417.