Box Score | LGR! Golf Tournament (May 8)

TROY, N.Y. - Junior attack Zach Lukas scored four times, including twice in the fourth quarter when the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's lacrosse team notched five goals, to lead the Engineers to a 12-6 win over Union College in a Liberty League contest at East Campus Stadium. RPI has now won 6 of its last 7 games to improve to 7-3 overall and 2-2 in the conference. The Dutchmen, who had won their previous two games, fall to 5-4 and 1-2.

With Rensselaer leading 7-5 after three quarters, Union won the faceoff to start the fourth quarter, but turned the ball over and RPI's JT Kelly (Acton, MA / Acton-Boxborough) made it a three-goal lead with a bouncing shot that crossed the goal line. The Dutchmen won the faceoff again, but senior goaltender David Gibbs (Stony Brook, NY / Ward Melville) made a save to give the Engineers possession. Rensselaer took a shot that was saved and Union came down and hit the post on its next possession. A clear for the Engineers led to a Lukas (Longmeadow, MA / Longmeadow) goal and a 9-5 lead with 9:33 left in regulation.

Freshman Owen Putman (Ballston Lake, NY / Shenendehowa) put the Engineers ahead by five goals with his second of the game just under three minutes later, but Union's Kerry Lyne (Wellesley, MA / Loomis Chaffee), also a freshman, answered right back less than a minute later with a goal from the right side. The Dutchmen again gained possession on the faceoff, but turned the ball over and RPI junior midfielder Matthew Gilman (St. Louis, MO / John Burroughs) snapped a shot into the cage to regain the five-goal lead (11-6) with 5:31 to play. Lukas scored his fourth of the game and 16th of the year off a feed from Lucas Bastarache (Wayland, MA / Wayland) with 3:22 to play to close out the scoring.

Union jumped out to the lead with a Kyle Mason (Fairfield, CT / Ludlowe) goal nine minutes into the first quarter, but the Engineers scored three times in 37 seconds three minutes later for the advantage. Lukas tallied at 2:55, Oliver Kaija (Woodstock, VT / Woodstock Union) won the faceoff and scored on a shot from the goalie's right at 2:48, and Putman followed with a goal 30 seconds later. 

Both teams had a pair of goals in the second quarter, including Union's Peter Richardson (New Canaan, CT / New Canaan) getting his first of the game and 12th of the season to pull his team to within one (4-3), but RPI's Breanainn McNeally (Severna Park, MD / Archbishop Spalding) followed with only one second left in the frame for a 5-3 margin. The goal was McNeally's 34th of the season. 

In addition to his four goals, Lukas also had a team-high eight shots with six on goal, along with two ground balls. Putman, Gilman (2 goals) and Kelly (1 goal, 1 assist) each had two points, while Bastarache added four ground balls. Gibbs also had four ground balls, along with nine saves. He stopped four shots in the fourth quarter alone.

Union got two goals from Richardson and a goal and an assist from Lyne, who had nine shots (4 on goal) and a ground ball. Three players had six ground balls, including Alex Newhouse (Boca Raton, FL / St. Andrews), who won 13 of 21 at the X. Sam Bebout (Summit, NJ / Summit), a junior, suffered the loss in goal, stopping 10 shots in 54:29.

The Dutchmen return to action on Wednesday when they host league rival Skidmore College at 4pm. RPI is also back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Babson College in a non-league game that begins at 6pm.