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PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's lacrosse game got three points from five different student-athletes and the Engineers won for the fourth straight game - all on the road - defeaing Plattsburgh State, 9-6.
 
The Cardinals opened the first quarter strong when senior attackman Brendan Damm scored two of the first three goals, sandwiching a JT Kelly marker. Mathew Prokesch closed the scoring for the opening fifteen minutes to give Plattsburgh a 3-2 lead after RPI's Matthew Gilman had tied the score.
 
The second and third quarters belonged to the Engineers as RPI outscored Plattsburgh State 7-2, including six-consecutive goals in the middle stanzas.
 
Breanaiann McNeally and Lucas Bastarache combined for five of the seven RPI goals over that stretch. McNeally netted two-straight in a 30 second span to tie the game at 4-4 before giving the Engineers their first lead at 5-4. Bastarache closed the half and then opened the third quarter with a pair to give RPI a 7-4 advantage.

Matt Hall of RPI collected his 14th goal of the season with 7:26 left in the third quarter to double the Cardinals at 8-4. McNeally finished up his hat-trick performance and scored his team-high 25th goal of the season on a man-up opportunity with exactly four minutes left in the third.
 
Face-off man Joey Kromer ended the RPI run eight seconds after McNeally's third. The senior won the draw then proceeded to sprint down the field before ripping a shot and cutting the RPI lead to 9-5.
 
Senior Patrick Nash pulled the Cardinals back to within three at 9-6 when he converted a man-up goal of their own; but it would be the only goal in the final quarter as RPI stifled the Plattsburgh State offense of a comeback opportunity.
 
Matt Massaria finished with nine saves for Plattsburgh State. David Gibbs corralled a game-high 11 for RPI.
 
The Cardinals owned slight 11-8 and 37-34 edges in faceoffs and shots, respectively. Both teams took a pair of penalties and both finished 1-2 on the man-up advantage.
 
The Cardinals slip back to .500 at 4-4 after Wednesday's defeat.