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TROY, N.Y. -- Ryan St. Croix scored five goals to lead Clarkson to an 11-9 win over 18th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Insitute (RPI) in Liberty League men's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at East Campus Stadium. With the loss, which ended a six-game win streak for the Engineers, RPI moves to 7-3 overall, with a 2-1 mark in league play. The Golden Knights improve to 3-4 on the season, and 1-1 in conference.

Clarkson jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter. St. Croix (Camillus, NY / West Genesee) scored the first two for the Golden Knights, both unassisted, before Mark Nortz (Lowville, NY / Lowville) and Ryan DaRin (Manlius, NY / Fayetteville-Manlius) scored back-to-back unassisted tallies of their own. RPI got on the board with 5:50 to play in the first, as Breanainn McNeally (Severna Park, MD / Archbishop Spaulding) took an assist from Matthew Gilman (St. Lous, MO / John Burroughs) to pull the Engineers to within 4-1. St. Croix completed a hat trick before the end of the period, getting another unassisted shot past Renssealer goalkeeper David Gibbs (Stony Brook, NY / Ward Melville) at 5:05. McNeally cut the Clarkson advantage back to three at 2:58, as he scored a man-up goal, getting another helper from Gilman.

The Engineers battled back in the second, scoring all four goals of the quarter to take a 6-5 lead at the half. McNeally took an assist from Patrick Finn (North Easton, MA / Thayer Academy) at 13:31, before Jake Weidner (Chula Vista, CA / Otay Valley) scored an unassisted tally at 8:57. Aaron Shavel (Lawrenceville, NJ / Princeton Day School) tied the game at 5-5 at 6:49. Gilman rounded out the scoring in the half with a man-up goal at 1:36, getting an assist from McNeally.

After the halftime break, Clarkson got another goal from St. Croix to tie the score again. Sam Groves (Milton, NY / Ballston Spa) put the Golden Knights back on top, 7-6, with 6:21 to play. Finn took an assist from Gilman at 3:17 on the extra-man to knot the score at 7-7, and the Engineers regained the lead with just 1:10 to play in the quarter  on Shavel's second unassisted goal of the day. Clarkson would get one more, with just 29 seconds to play, to send the game into the fourth tied at 8-8, as Matthew Gold (Pittsford, NY / Pittsford) scored all alone.

Shavel gave the Engineers their final lead of the game just 30 seconds into the fourth, taking an assist from Finn. Clarkson scored the next three to set the final score. Corey Herrington (Camillus, NY / West Genesee) scored with just over 12 minutes to go to tie the game at 9-9, before St. Croix scored his fifth of the day to put the Golden Knights back on top. Nortz added his second of the game with 9:33 to play to give Clarkson the two-goal advantage. Rensselaer took several shots in the waning minutes, but Golden Knight goalkeeper Nick Strandholm (Happy Valley, OR / Clackamas) turned them away to preserve the Clarkson victory.

The Golden Knights outshot RPI, 35-32, and held a 37-28 advantage in ground balls. Clarkson's Dylan Broomfield (Clinton, NY / Clinton) won 16-of-24 faceoffs. The Engineers were 3-for-3 on the extra man, while holding Clarkson to 0-for-1. Gibbs took the loss for Rensselaer, making four saves in just under 41 minutes of action. Anthony De Los Reyes (Dix Hills, NY / St. Anthony's) made two saves in reserve action. Strandholm earned the win for Clarkson, making 10 saves.

RPI will return to action on Saturday, April 4, visiting RIT at 1 p.m. in Liberty League play. Clarkson hosts Potsdam on Tuesday in non-league play.