TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team scored three goals before the midway point of the first half and held on to defeat St. Lawrence University, 3-2, on Wednesday night at East Campus Stadium. With the win, the Engineers improve to 4-6-1 overall (2-1 Liberty League), while the Saints drop to 5-2-2 (2-1-1 Liberty League).
The game got off to a roaring start, beginning with a fourth minute, headed-goal by St. Lawrence sophomore center back Sam Sapnar (Rumson, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven Regional) off a corner kick from the left side by senior Jethro Dede (New York, NY/Bershire School).
Rensselaer answered with the tying goal four minutes later, when senior captain
Danny Corridan (Queens, NY/Archbishop Molloy) finished first time from the top of the 18, after the Engineers forced a turnover deep in St. Lawrence territory. Junior
Austin Betterly (Plymouth Meeeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh) picked out Corridan racing up the middle of the field and his right-footed rocket found the top right corner of the net.
Sophomore center back
Joe Di Miceli (Rockville Centre, NY/Oceanside) gave the hosts the lead for good in just in the 15th minute, climbing to reach a free kick that swung in from the left by classmate
Michael Harten (Merrick, NY/Stanford H. Calhoun). Di Miceli got his head to the inswinging ball just outside the six and touched it past St. Lawrence senior goalkeeper Mike Smith (Syracuse, NY/CBA) for his second goal of the year.
The Engineers doubled their lead in the 22nd minute on freshman
Billy Chissoe's (Gig Harbor, WA/Charles Wright Academy) team-leading fourth goal of the season. The play started when Betterly picked the pocket of a Saints defender and attacked the top of the 18, before ripping a shot that was blocked. The ball caromed to Chissoe, who took a pair of touches before calmly slotting home a shot off the right post.
RPI took its 3-1 lead into halftime, along with a 10-3 advantage in shot attempts.
The Saints pushed numbers forward in the second half and came with a pair of shots in the 55th minute, but both were blocked by the RPI defense, inside the penalty area.
Dede did eventually bring the visitors within 3-2 in the 65th minute, blasting a shot past RPI junior goalkeeper
Matt LaBranche (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) for his team-leading fifth goal of the year from just inside the top of the box. A through ball was played into the left side of the area for classmate Tapshak Augustine (Abuja, Nigeria/Kiski School), who cut the ball back to Dede for the first-time finish.
In the 78th minute, the Saints sent a dangerous ball through the top of the six that one was able to reach. The RPI defense then blocked another close range effort with just over four minutes to play.
Rensselaer nearly scored a fourth goal in game's final seconds, as Smith had pushed forward looking for the equalizer. Corridan got to a loose ball just across and launched a 55-yard effort that bounced in front of the vacant net, before clipping the crossbar on its way over.
LaBranche (4-4-1) finished with three saves, while Smith (4-2-1) had four at the other end of the field. RPI took the shot attempts battle, 12-11, but the Saints won more corners, 4-3. The three goals were the most by an RPI team against St. Lawrence since September 29, 1978 - a 3-1 win in Troy.
The Engineers are back on the field this Saturday, when they visit area-rival Union College for a 1pm kick. St. Lawrence visits RIT on Saturday (2pm).
