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TROY, N.Y. -- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) scored nine straight, while holding Skidmore scoreless for 46 minutes, as the Engineers defeated the Thoroughbreds, 9-4, in Liberty League men's lacrosse action on Wednesday afternoon at East Campus Stadium. With the win, 18th-ranked RPI improves to 7-2 on the season, and 2-0 in conference play, while Skidmore drops to 2-5 overall, and 0-2 in the league.

The Thoroughbreds scored the first three goals of the game, and held a 3-1 advantage after the first quarter. Josh Trachtenberg (Mamaroneck, NY / Mamaroneck) took an assist from Brendan Halloran (Pleasantville, NY / Pleasantville) to start the scoring at 7:42. Ian Maag (Marblehead, MA / Phillips Academy) assisted Jack Livecchi (Sparta, NJ / Sparta) with just under three minutes to play in the first quarter, before Jack Metzler (Garden City, NY / Garden City) pushed the Skidmore lead to 3-0 with 1:50 to play off a helper from Kevin Mulvey (Westfield, NJ / Taft School). Rensselaer got on the board with under a minute to play in the first, as Matt Hall (Sudbury, MA / Lincoln-Sudbury) got an unassisted shot past Skidmore goalkeeper Chris Baughan (Foxboro, MA / Portsmouth Abbey School), with just 45 seconds on the clock.

Hall's goal to end the first started the nine-goal streak for the Engineers which continued into the fourth quarter. In the second, Matthew Gilman (St. Louis, MO / John Burroughs) scored an unassisted goal at 11:06 to pull RPI to within one goal. Breanainn McNeally (Severna Park, MD / Archbishop Spaulding) tied the game at 3-3 with a man-up tally at 4;45, taking an assist from Jake Weidner (Chula Vista, CA / Otay Ranch).

The Engineer rally continued after the halftime break, as Aaron Shavel (Lawrenceville, NJ / Princeton Day School) scored an unassisted goal at 13:55, giving Rensselaer its first lead of the game. Gilman connected with Casey Colligan (Baldwinsville, NY / CW Baker) at 7:47, before scoring his second goal of the day with just 17 seconds left to play in the third quarter, taking an assist from Blake Frasca (Medfield, MA / Medfield), and pushing the RPI lead to 6-3.

Weidner and McNeally scored two goals within a minute of each other in the fourth quarter for RPI. Weidner scored an unassisted goal at 11:41, while McNeally took an assist from Gilman at 11:17. Pat Hogan (Mt. Sinai, NY / Mt. Sinai) wrapped up the scoring for the Engineers with 1:12 to play, while Skidmore got one final goal with just 45 seconds to go. Chris Melligon (Short Hills, NJ / Pingry School) took an assist from Ryan Warnock (Upper Saddle River, NJ / Bergen Catholic) for the fourth Thoroughbred tally.

RPI outshot Skidmore, 49-19, in the game, and held a 35-15 advantage in ground balls. The Engineers held a slight advantage in faceoff wins, taking 9-of-17. David Gibbs (Stony Brook, NY / Ward Melville) recorded five saves for Rensselaer, while Baughan recorded 17 stops for Skidmore.

Rensselaer will return to action on Saturday, hosting Clarkson at 1 p.m. in Liberty League play. Skidmore will also continue conference play on Saturday afternoon, hosting Vassar.