TROY, N.Y. – Seven different players scored, led by three goals and an assist from Eric Gollands, as the Clarkson University men's lacrosse team held on late for an 11-10 Liberty League victory over #15 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The Golden Knights move to 6-4 and 2-0 in conference play, while the Engineers slip to 7-3 overall with a 2-2 league mark.

The Engineers opened the game's scoring, jumping out to a 2-0 advantage behind goals from sophomores Wes Rudy (Doylestown, PA/The Hill School) and Brett Overend (Laguna Hills, CA/Laguna Hills) through the first four minutes.

Clarkson's Brendan Shearin (Goffstown, NH/Goffstown) closed the gap at 11:03, but RPI senior Nick Billy (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) capitalized on the man-up with 9:44 remaining for a 3-1 lead. Matt McCabe (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) kept the Knights close, scoring at 7:29, but Billy once again found the back of the net with his second straight to regain at 4-2 edge for the visitors with 4:20 on the clock.

The home team benefited from McCabe's persistence once more as he tallied with 2:38 left, and John Devine (Orchard Park, NY/Canisius) pulled the Knights even at 4-all on the man-up at 1:09. Despite the momentum, Billy was able to give RPI back the lead with his third of the game with 31 seconds left in the quarter.

In the second stanza, both teams notched goals, but it was the Engineers who headed into halftime with a 6-5 advantage.

Clarkson came out firing in the third quarter, scoring three straight goals to grab their first lead of the game. Eric Gollands (Chelmsford, MA/Chelmsford) got things going, tallying at 13:30, while Mitch Collins scored off an assist from Shearin with 12:49 left to make it a 7-6 game.

Gollands then pushed it to a two-goal lead (8-6) and later made it 9-6 with 8:33 left in the quarter after connecting on a feed from Tyler Long (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool). Rensselaer's Devin Arnold (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) was able to close the gap to two (9-7) with 6:51 left, scoring his second of the game, but Clarkson's Josh Flacke (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) regained the three-goal edge (10-7) nearing the end of the third quarter.

Heading into the final stanza, the Engineers quickly answered, making it a 10-all game by mid-way through the frame. Junior Grant Foulsham (Madison, NJ/Madison) got things started with a goal at 10:46. RPI quickly made it a 10-9 game at 10:16 as junior Andrew Liptak (Westfield, MA/Westfield) scooped up the ground ball off the faceoff and carried it down field, sending a pass to classmate Andrew Miller (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) who buried it.

Billy tied things at 10-10 with 9:16 left to play after he corralled a feed from Foulsham for the game-tying marker past Clarkson's Ryan Cole (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park). But it was the Knights that would grab the go-ahead as McCabe notched his third of the contest for an 11-10 advantage with 4:41 remaining.

Rensselaer threw a number of shots at the Clarkson net over the final 1:42, but could not get the equalizer as the Knights held on for the one-goal victory.

In addition to Gollands, Clarkson saw McCabe score three goals, while Cole stopped 19 shots for the win.

For Rensselaer, Billy led all game scorers with four goals. Foulsham added a goal and two assists, while Arnold had a pair of goals. Between the pipes, sophomore James Manchester (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) made six saves.

The Engineers are back in action next Wednesday with a non-league road game at Castleton State (4pm). The Golden Knights are also in action on Wednesday, hosting league-rival St. Lawrence (4pm).