Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – In a battle between undefeated teams at Harkness Field, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) got four goals and an assist from junior Mike Sampson (Columbus, OH/Upper Arlington) and improved to 7-0 with a 12-6 victory over Oneonta State in men’s lacrosse action this afternoon. The Red Dragons drop to 6-1 on the season.

Holding a 3-0 lead after the opening quarter, behind two goals from freshman Paul Cerone (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield), Rensselaer led by as many as four in the second frame, before the visiting Red Dragons mounted a comeback scoring a pair of goals to cut the lead to two (4-2) at 9:32.

Sophomore Mike Evans (Holtsville, NY/Sachem East) heralded the charge for Oneonta with a pair of goals, but the Red Hawks added two more markers from Sampson, including a man-up goal, to take a 9-4 lead into the halftime.

Both sides came out with solid defense in the third quarter, which saw senior Mike Schanz (Endwell, NY/Maine Endwell) cut the Red Dragons deficit to four at the 14:01 mark, but RPI added a goal mid-way through the frame and another two in the final quarter for the winning margin.

In addition to Sampson, RPI got three goals and an assist from Cerone. Junior Briggs Thompson (South Lyme, CT/East Lyme) added two goals while classmate PJ McComb (Newington, CT/Newington) had a goal and a game-best four assists.

Junior netminder John Thibdeau (Altamont, NY/Bethlehem) played the full 60:00 minutes in the cage for the Red Hawks, stopping eight shots for his seventh victory of the season.

For Oneonta St., Schanz finished with two goals while freshman Scott Weiner (Suffern, NY/Suffern) added a goal and an assist. Sophomore Nick Murray (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) suffered the loss in net for the Red Dragons making seven saves. Senior Brian Tricoles (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) stopped three shots in relief.

The Red Hawks return to action next Saturday at area and Liberty League rival Union (1pm). Oneonta St. is back on the field on Wednesday at Morrisville (4pm).