TROY, N.Y. – Freshman Josh Gaudiano continued his explosive rookie season, scoring two goals and assisting on another to lead the 13th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Keene State College, on Wednesday night at East Campus Stadium. With the win, their program record 10th in a row, the Engineers improve to 11-1 overall, while the Owls drop to 8-4.

RPI jumped out to an early lead, as Gaudiano struck twice in the first 16 minutes of the match. He opened the scoring in the 11th minute, converting a penalty kick after drawing the foul while cutting across the left side of the penalty area. Five minutes later, he latched onto a through ball from junior Michael Harten (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun) and drove to the middle of the field, before rifling home his second goal of the game and school record-tying 12th of the season.

Junior captain and center back Joe Di Miceli (Rockville Centre, NY/Oceanside) gave the hosts a 3-0 lead in the 26th minute, nodding home a corner kick by Gaudiano from inside the six. The tally for Di Miceli was his third of the year, with Gaudiano collecting his third assist.

The Engineers took their 3-0 lead to the break, along with a 13-4 advantage in shots.

Gaudiano nearly caught Keene State sophomore goalkeeper Gavin Fitzpatrick (Manchester, NH/West) off his line in the first 30 seconds of the second half, but his shot from distance found the left upright.

The Owls got on the board in the 54th minute, when sophomore Vance Bates (Chatham, MA/Nauset) stuck home a rebound fromt point blank range for his third goal of the season.

Engineers senior goalkeeper Matt LaBranche (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) made a pair of big second half saves, including one in the 81st minute, when he denied a Bates strike from 16 yards out.

LaBranche (4-1) finished with five saves, while sophomore Anthony Pasciuto (Abington, MA/Whitman-Hansen) did not make a stop in the opening 25 minutes, before he was replaced by Fitzpatrick, who saved 10. RPI won the shots battle, 22-12, as well as the corner kicks, 8-4.

Rensselaer passed the 1996 squad with their 10th consecutive victory and equaled the program mark for consecutive games unbeaten in a season of 10, which was previously set in 2015. That team opened at 8-0-2, before losing its 11th game. Gaudiano passed Andrey Oks '00 for the single-season goal scoring record, before tying Gary Sroka '08 for the overall single season mark of 12.

Gaudiano, who now has 27 points in only 12 games, is one point behind Oks for the rookie points record (28) and two behind Sroka's 2007 school points plateau (29). He has goals in seven straight games, including three multi-goal contests and his 10 shots against the Owls was a season-high.