Box Score  | NSCAA National Poll

TROY, N.Y. – Senior captain Matt Koziol scored his second goal in three days to lead the No. 20 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Richard Stockton College, this evening at East Campus Stadium. With the win, the Engineers improve to 3-0, while the Ospreys drop to 1-1-1.
 
A physical and evenly played first half saw the visitors hold a 7-3 edge in shots after 45 minutes. The two teams combined for 19 fouls in the stanza and 37 and five yellow cards in the game, including four on the Ospreys.
 
Stockton had the better of the opportunities in the half, including a shot by sophomore Anthony Colofranson (Woodbury Heights, NJ/Gateway) that forced RPI senior goalkeeper Rob Dewald (Arlington, VA/Washington-Lee) into a full stretch make the save.
 
The Ospreys also had a chance in the waning seconds of the half, but junior Clevon McPherson's (Kingston, Jamaica/Timber Creek) glancing header went wide of the right post.
 
Junior Matt Carberry (Auburn, NY/Auburn) sparked the Engineers offensively in the second half, beating his man to the end line on a number of occasions.
 
Carberry and Andrew Gondek (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) combined to free the sophomore right back into the penalty area in the 52nd minute. Gondek slide a pass across the top of the 18 to junior Paul Lentine (Penfield, NY/Penfield Senior), who had shot blocked. Classmate Nathaniel Gunderson Olympia, WA/Tumwater) then saw his follow up attempt sail high.
 
Rensselaer continued to press on and drew a foul just outside the penalty area, on the left flank, in the 66th minute. From there, Koziol (Poughkeepsie, NY/Franklin D. Roosevelt) struck a perfectly placed shot, off the inside of the far post and into the back of the net. The tally gives him 17 goals for his collegiate career, tying Seth Schulman '93 for ninth in school history.
 
Stockton's final push to find an equalizer came in the 83rd minute, on the tail end of back-to-back corner kicks. Colofranson found himself alone at the far post, but his bicycle kick attempt spun well wide of the target.
 
Dewald and sophomore Alex Kessler (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem) – who came on in the 60th minute – combined for three saves and the shutout. Ospreys senior Bobby Varga (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) made four stops. The Engineers finished with a 13-10 advantage in shots, while Stockton had a 4-3 edge in corners.
 
The 3-0 start for Rensselaer is its first since 2009. That team finished the season at 14-3-2 and went on to host First and Second Round NCAA Tournament games at Renwyck Field.
 
The Engineers are back in action on Saturday, when they travel to The College at Brockport for another non-league contest (6pm). Stockton is home to Brooklyn College on Friday (5pm).