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TROY, N.Y. - Junior Austin Betterly scored once in the first half and once in the second half and freshman Luke Brezak stopped all three shots he faced as the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team defeated No. 25 Ithaca College, 3-0, in a Liberty League contest at East Campus Stadium. The Engineers improve to 7-8-1 overall and 4-3-0 in the conference and remain in position to qualify for the post-season tournament. The Bombers, who had won four straight games, drop to 10-2-3 and 3-2-2.

Betterly, a forward, put RPI on the scoreboard in the 19th minute when he ran into a feed from Brandon Pirog 30 yards from goal, carried the ball down the right side to 13 yards and sent a low shot to the far post and into the goal. His second tally came on an outstanding individual effort in the 54th minute as he dribbled the ball 70 yards, outraced two defenders and scored between the goalkeeper's legs from 15 yards out for his fourth marker of the season.

Ithaca had a solid chance to pull to within a goal in the 60th minute when a Jack Monnes header off a Tom Dillmann corner was headed aside by RPI's Michael Harten. The ball caromed to Thomas Pierce, but his header was saved by Brezak.

RPI made it 3-0 when senior Trevor McCaughey volleyed a ball from 23 yards out and past Max Lichtenstein. The play started with a free kick after Betterly was taken down while trying to break away once again. Harten took the initial kick, which was headed by an Ithaca defender to McCaughey, who scored for the second time this season.

The Engineers finished with an 11-10 advantage in shots in the game, but Ithaca had a 7-4 edge in corner kicks.

The Bombers had a high-quality chance to take the initial lead 16 minutes into the contest when junior Justinian Michaels drilled a shot from 42 yards out that forced the 6-4 Brezak to jump in order to tap over the crossbar.

Lichtenstein, a sophomore, finished with three saves in 81 minutes before being relieved by freshman Tyler Lewin, who did not face any shots in his nine minutes of work.

Rensselaer is back in action on Wednesday at 3:30pm when it visits Vassar College. The Bombers host RIT on Wednesday at 3pm. Both games are Liberty League games.