Box Score
Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Five different players tallied two or more goals, including three from freshman Blair Hanson, as Oneonta State defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 13-11, in non-conference men's lacrosse action on Wednesday. The Red Dragons move to 3-4 overall while the Red Hawks drop to 1-3 on the season.

Holding a 7-6 lead after the first half of play, Oneonta State continued to pressure early in the third quarter as sophomore Ryan Waibel (West Islip, NY/West Islip) scored at 13:05. A quick goal less than 30 seconds later from RPI's Conor Chocheles (Babylon, NY/Babylon) cut the deficit for the Red Hawks, but the Red Dragons once again took control.

Led by two tallies from sophomore Andy Hilton (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili), the visitors tacked on three straight goals to lead 11-7 with 7:15 remaining in the third quarter. Rensselaer pulled to within two on goals by senior Josh Secora (Evergreen, CO/Golden) and rookie Brian Larkin (Florham Park, NJ/Seton Hall Prep.), but Waibel added another tally for Oneonta State, which took a 12-9 lead into the final quarter.

Momentum continued to swing in the Red Dragons favor to start things in the final stanza as junior John Campbell (Merrick, NY/Mepham) scored unassisted at 9:13. Rensselaer made one final push in the last five minutes as Secora and junior Brett Evans (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) each found the back of the net off assists from Chocheles, but it wasn't enough.

Hanson (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville Manlius), who had a game-best three goals, also added an assist for Oneonta State. Junior Steve Loesch (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) Waibel and junior Scott Weiner (Suffern, NY/Suffern) each added two goals while senior Troy Lepore (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson) had a goal and three assists.

In the Red Dragons net, senior Nick Murray (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) improved to 3-4 on the season with 16 saves.

For Rensselaer, Secora posted a game-high three goals. He also added an assist while Chocheles had a pair of tallies and game-best four assists. Sophomore Nick Billy (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) added a goal and an assist and five other players each had a goal.

The Red Hawks saw senior Ryan DeJordy (Albany, NY/Columbia) and sophomore Angelo Luppino (Mount Kisco, NY/Fox Lane) post a combined 13 saves. DeJordy (12 saves), who played the first two quarters, was replaced by Luppino (1 save) for the first 5:12 of the third quarter before re-entering for the remainder of the contest.

RPI held a 50-40 advantage in shots for the game while Oneonta edged the Red Hawks in ground balls by a margin of 28-27. Each team tallied two man-up goals in the contest as the Red Dragons went 2-for-3 with the man advantage while Rensselaer was 2-for-4.

Rensselaer returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Elmira at 1pm at Harkness Field. The Red Dragons are idle until April 1 when they play at Hamilton (5pm).