Box Score | RPI Athletics on Instagram

KEENE, N.H.- The Keene State College men's lacrosse team rallied from a 6-0 deficit to post a 14-12 win over No. 20 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday at Owl Athletic Complex. Breanainn McNeally had four goals, Matthew Gilman scored three times with two assists and JT Kelly tallied three times for the Engineers.
 
Records

• RPI: 0-1
• Keene State: 2-0

The Series 

• Each team has won twice in four all-time meetings between these two schools.  Keene State has won the last two.

Tale of the Tape

• After falling behind 7-2 in the first quarter, Keene State outscored the Engineers 12-5 over the final three periods.
• Tyler Reilly had five goals, including the game winner with 57 seconds left. Bryan Rotatori had three goals and three assists, and Hunter Arnold also potted three. Tyler McKelvie chipped in two and Frank Bacarella added one.
• Breannin McNeally led the Engineers with four goals. Matthew Gilman had three goals and two assists, and JT Kelly also added three.
• Mathew Howe was outstanding in net for Keene, making 17 saves. RPI's David Gibbs had 18 stops.
• Keene State won 19-of-30 restarts on the X.

First Half Highlights

• It looked to be a long day for the Owls, as the Engineers rolled out to a 6-0 lead. Matt Hall scored at the 10:43 mark, and Lucas Bastarache set up Kelly for a 2-0 lead with 9:54 left in the first quarter.
• McNeally scored twice, and Gilman and Bastarache each added one before Keene State got on the board with 2:46 to play. Reilly scored off the next faceoff to cut the lead to 6-2, but McNeally scored again with eight seconds left for a 7-2 lead at the end of one.
• The Owls pulled back into the game in the second quarter, as Rotatori fed Arnold with 12:56 on the clock, then scored one of his own with an unassisted tally to make it 7-4 with 11:30 left.
• Gilman restored RPI's four goal advantage off a pass from Jake Weidner, but the Owls netted the final three goals of the half, with Arnold and Rotatori scoring unassisted goals either side of a goal from Reilly. 

Second Half Highlights

• Keene State tied the game in the early minutes of the third quarter on McKelvie's first of the game. Gilman and McNeally scored to give RPI a 10-8 lead, only to have McKelvie and Rotatori score consecutive markers that tied the game at 10.
• Reilly, who scored three times in the fourth quarter, gave Keene State its first lead of the day with 10:50 left, and made it a two goal advantage with 9:44 to go.
• RPI put together a final rally, as Kelly scored twice, first with a man advantage with 7:33 left, then at even strength with 3:03 to go.
• The Engineers appeared to have a chance to go back in front, but Rotatori forced a turnover and set up Reilly with 57 seconds left. Keene State won the ensuing faceoff, and ran down much of the clock. With RPI goalie David Gibbs on the sidelines, Arnold scored into an empty net with eight seconds left to seal the win. 

Up Next

• Keene State is off until March 9, when the Owls will host No. 1 Tufts.  
• RPI hosts Ithaca College on March 5 at 1pm.