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NEW LONDON, Conn. - Senior close defender John Phillips (Oswego, N.Y.) had eight ground balls and seven caused turnovers to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's lacrosse team to an 11-7 victory at Connecticut College on Wednesday.
 
The Engineers improved their record to 3-2, while the Camels evened their mark at 3-3.
 
Junior Breanainn McNeally (Severna Park, Md.) had four goals and one assist to pace the visitors on offense. He leads RPI with 21 goals this spring. Junior attackman Matt Hall (Sudbury, Mass.) chipped in three goals and assisting on two others. David Gibbs (Stony Brook, N.Y.) made 11 saves for the victors.
 
Connecticut College rookie attackman PJ Kelleher (Walpole, Mass.) finished with two goals and two assists. Pierce DellaFera (Lattingtown, N.Y.) added a goal and an assist, while sophomore Ben Parens (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) had another huge day at the X. Entering the afternoon ranked sixth in the nation in face-off percentage, Parens was 18-for-22 and added a game-high nine ground balls.  Penn Sednaoui (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) had a goal and eight ground balls from the wing midfield position. Senior netminder Bobby Bleistein (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) made five saves in the cage.
 
RPI built a 4-1 lead after one quarter and made it a 7-3 game when Hall netted his third of the contest with 6:11 remaining in the second. But the Camels ended the half by scoring a pair of goals in a 44 second span. Kelleher made a nice feed from behind the cage to Kevin Schirmacher (Massapequa, N.Y.), who flicked one in for the Camels. Then, with 4:31 remaining, Kelleher trimmed the deficit to 7-5 with DellaFera earning the assist. 
 
But RPI clamped down on defense behind their senior leader Phillips, who was just about everywhere. The visitors scored both goals in the third quarter. JT Kelly (Acton, Mass.) buried a shot from the top of the box with 9:11 remaining before McNeally closed out the third with a score at the 4:17 mark. Finn assisted on both markers.
 
The Camels closed to within three on two different occasions in the fourth quarter. DellaFera buried a man up goal with 5:55 to play to make it a 10-7 game but the Camels would not get any closer and the visitors were able to hang on for an 11-7 win.