CANTON, N.Y. - Junior Matt Hall recorded four points and classmate David Gibbs made 11 saves to lead the 15th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's lacrosse team to a 10-4 victory over fourth-ranked St. Lawrence University, on Friday afternoon in the Liberty League Semifinals at North Country Field. With the win, the Engineers improve to 13-3 and advance to the league final against first-ranked and top-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The Saints are now 15-2.

Hall (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury) had a hand in all four RPI goals in the third quarter, helping the Engineers turn a 2-2 tie into a 6-2 lead. 

Classmate Breanainn McNeally (Severna Park, MD/Archbishop Spaulding) broke the deadlock (3-2) with a man-up tally at 7:29 of the third. Hall earned the assist on the first of McNeally's two goals on the day.

The visitors then rode Hall for three straight goals in a span of 4:56 to open up a 6-2 advantage. After Hall made it 4-2 with an unassisted man-up tally, McNeally returned the earlier favor, setting up RPI's fifth goal with 4:17 left in the stanza. Hall then polished off the string of goals with his 30th of the season.

Sophomore Matthew Gilman (St. Louis, MO/John Burroughs) gave the Engineers a 7-2 lead, just 1:20 into the fourth quarter. St. Lawrence answered two minutes later, as senior Jeremy Vautour (Hampton, NB/New Hampton School) brought an end to the 5-0 RPI run with his 47th goal of the campaign.

RPI sophomore face-off man Oliver Kaija (Woodstock, VT/Woodstock Junction) took the ensuing draw the house for just his second goal of the season, making it 8-3.

St. Lawrence came back with a goal 7:24 of the fourth to draw within four (8-4) and had a man-up opportunity to try and march even closer. A shot by Vautour hit the post, before Gibbs (Stony Brook, NY/Ward Melville) came up with two big saves to keep the hosts at arm's length.

After regaining possesion with 7:26 left in the fourth, the Engineers ran nearly three minutes off the clock, before freshman JT Kelly (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough) found senior Patrick Finn (North Easton, MA/Thayer Academy) wide open on the doorstep for his 11th goal of the year.

McNeally added an insurance tally - his 52nd of the season - with 3:03 remaining. An assist went to Kelly again, which was his 18th.

Gibbs (11-3) finished with 11 stops, including seven in the first half. St. Lawrence senior netminder Ryan Fisher (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) had three saves, with two coming in the third quarter.

The Saints held a 49-22 advantage in shots and a 10-7 edge on face-offs. Rensselaer came away with a narrow 27-25 lead in ground balls, was 22 for 26 on the clear and finished 3 of 8 on man-up chances. SLU was 18 of 19 clearing the ball on the day, going 0 for 3 with an extra man.

RPI will face RIT in the Liberty League Championship game on Sunday in Rochester (12pm), with the winner earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.