AMHERST, Mass. – Senior Austin Betterly scored exactly four minutes into overtime to lift the No. 12/14 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team to a 3-2 victory over No. 6/8 Messiah College, on Saturday afternoon at Hitchcock Field. With the win, the Engineers improve to 16-2-4 overall and advance to tomorrow's Sectional Final against host Amherst College (1pm). The Falcons conclude their season at 18-3-2.

Betterly Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh) collected a loose ball at the right edge of the six and kneed home his fourth goal of the season, just inside the far post. Freshman Arik Duncan (Decatur, GA/Woodward Academy) went up for the initial ball that was played into the box, before it fell to Betterly for the finish.

The Engineers opened the scoring in the 37th minute, when junior Trevor Bisson (Baton Rouge, LA/Episcopal) stuck home his own rebound from eight yards out, after his header was blocked by the Messiah defense. A corner kick from the right was delivered in the middle of the 18 by classmate Michael Harten (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun) and Bisson rose to get on the end of it. The ball fell to his feet and he was able to poke it past Falcons senior goalkeeper Nate Flanders (York, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) for his sixth goal of the season.

RPI took its 1-0 lead to halftime, despite being outshot, 11-9.

Messiah wasted little time drawing even in the second half, as sophomore Lucas Kokolios (California, MD/Leonardtown) fired past Engineers sophomore goalkeeper Luke Brezak (Camano Island, WA/The Overlake School) with corner kick from the right, in the 54th minute.

Less than two minutes later, the Falcons took the lead at 2-1, when freshman Ben Lefever (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) curled a left-footed shot in the left post from the top of the box. Sophomore Luke Groothoff (Chebeague Island, ME/Yarmouth) earned the assist on the go-ahead goal.

Freshman Josh Gaudiano (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa) then drew a penalty kick in the 60th minute, beating his defender across the left side of the box, before being taken down. Gaudiano stepped up and buried his sixth goal from the spot this season and 16th tally overall, knotting the score at 2-2.

Brezak came with a number of big saves through the contest, including back-to-back stops in the 63rd and 67th minutes to keep the game tied. He then kept out an attempt in the dying moments of regulation after the Falcons were given a free kick, just left of the penalty area.

Gaudiano turned in the only other chance for either side in overtime, when his shot from 20 yards out flashed over the top of the net in the 92nd minute.

Messiah finished with a 28-19 shot advantage, including 11-6 on target. Break (11-0-4) had eight saves on the day, while Flanders (18-3-2) had three at the other end of the field.