Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Behind two goals and a game-best five assists from junior attack PJ McComb (Newington, CT/Newington), the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s lacrosse team defeated Hamilton College, 10-4, and clinched a berth in the Liberty League playoffs on senior day at Harkness Field.

The Red Hawks improve to 10-2 overall and 3-1 in the league while the Continentals fall to 3-9 and 0-4 in the Liberty League.

With the teams tied 1-1 after the opening quarter, the Red Hawks broke open the game with four consecutive goals in the second frame. Junior midfielder Marc Albu (Darien, CT/Darien) made it 2-1 in favor of Hamilton at the 8:08 mark, but RPI’s Mike Sampson (Columbus, OH/Upper Arlington) tied it at 2-2, and Briggs Thompson (East Lyme, CT/South Lyme) made it a 3-2 advantage less than two minutes later at the 4:26 mark.

Rensselaer went into the halftime with a 5-2 lead and added four straight goals in the third quarter for a 9-2 lead. McComb led the way, scoring the first goal and adding three straight assists. Freshman attack Justin Williams (New Canaan, CT/Kent School) cut the RPI lead to six at 10:17 of the fourth quarter and sophomore Peter Gerrity (Cumberland, ME/North Yarmouth Academy) added a goal with 2:47 remaining, but RPI junior Alex MacDiarmid (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) scored his second of the game at 1:16 for the victory.

In addition to McComb, RPI saw MacDiarmid tally two goals and an assist. Thompson added two goals and four other players tallied. Senior Ryan Michels (Wilmington, DE/Brandywine) picked up his first win in goal making nine saves.

For Hamilton, four different players scored led by senior attack Clark Winter (Darien, CT/Darien), who had a goal and an assist. Classmate Ethan Shoemaker (Kansas City, MO/Pembroke Hill School) shouldered the loss in goal making 12 saves. Freshman Christian Kunhardt (Glen Arm, MD/St. Paul’s School), who played 1:40 in relief during a penalty on Shoemaker, had one save.

Rensselaer returns to action on Wednesday for a Liberty League contest at Skidmore (4pm). The Continentals also return to the field on Wednesday at Union (4pm).