TROY, N.Y. – The No. 8/12 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team clinched first place in the Liberty League by defeating Vassar, 2-0, on Wednesday night at East Campus Stadium. The Engineers, who are now unbeaten in their last 15 games (13-0-2), improve to 14-1-2 overall (6-0-2 Liberty League), while the Brewers drop to 8-7-1 (5-3-0 Liberty League).

After a scoreless first half in which Vassar outshot the hosts, 4-2, the Engineers picked up their play in the second half, creating a number of scoring chances for before finally breaking through.

Junior Paul Silva (Wayne, NJ/Seton Hall Prep.) got free up the left flank in the 59th minute, cutting his way into the penalty area before ripping a shot that was stopped and held by Vassar freshman goalkeeper Eric Wnorowski (Mantoloking, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) on the dive.

RPI converted on a corner eight minutes later. Senior Dylan Confair (Williamsport, PA/Williamsport Area) found the head of junior Trevor Bisson (Baton Rouge, LA/Episcopal) with a delivery from left, in the middle of the penalty area, for his fifth goal of the season. Bisson headed the ball down and it bounced just inside the left post for the eventual game-winning tally.

The Engineers doubled their lead in the 75th minute an unassisted goal from senior Austin Betterly (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh), who picked the pocket of Wnorowski and fired home his third goal of the year into an open net.

Rensselaer limited the Brewers to just four shots in the second half en route to its fifth shutout of the season. Sophomore goalkeeper Luke Brezak (Camano Island, WA/The Overlake School) made two saves to improve to 9-0-2 on the year, while Wnorowski had four stops at the other end of the field.

RPI ties the school record with 14 wins in a season, matching the 1996 and 2009 teams. The Engineers 15-game unbeaten streak and 10 home victories are already tops in program history, as well as freshman Josh Gaudiano's (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa) 15 goals and 35 points. Gaudiano was kept off the scoresheet for just the fifth time this season.

The Engineers, who close out the regular season on Saturday at Ithaca College (2pm) will host Liberty League Championship Weekend on November 9 and 10 at East Campus Stadium, with competing teams and game times, TBA. Vassar finishes its regular season on Saturday at RIT (2pm).