TROY, N.Y. - Owen Putman scored six goals and Brian Doughty stopped 13 shots to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's lacrosse team to a 14-5 victory over Skidmore College in a Liberty League contest at ECAV Stadium. The game was the first of the season for the Engineers, while the Thoroughbreds drop to 1-3 overall and 0-3 in the conference.

RPI jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and held an 8-0 advantage at halftime with five of those goals coming from Putman, an attack. His first made was a man-up marker that pushed the score to 2-0 and he then followed a Tim Oslislo tally with three straight in a span of 2:28. Will Hatcher, who had an assist on the game's first goal by Tyler Hancock, set up the first of the trio with Putman's other two coming unassisted. 

Nicholas Colucci had assists on the final two goals of the half, the first to Ryan Cole and the second to Putman. 

Skidmore's Ryan Madalone broke Rensselaer's string with his fourth goal of the season, but the Engineers answered with the next four for a 12-1 lead with 8:27 to play in the third quarter. Jason Bram had two of the goals and Colucci one. 

Putman's sixth countered a Matt Pinckney marker before Zach Swanson, a freshman, scored his second of the contest with 8:24 left in the fourth quarter for a 14-2 margin. Pinckney then assisted on a Charlie Kessler goal and Gregory Ross scored the final two goals of the game as the Thoroughbreds tallied three late.

Doughty was outstanding throughout, allowing just four goals on 17 shots. He had two saves in the first quarter, four in the second and three in the third. Two goalies combined for nine saves for Skidmore.

Putman finished with eight shots (7 on goal) and two ground balls, while freshman Angelo Venuto led all players with five pickups. He won 8 of 10 face offs, helping the Engineers to 15 victories in that category. Bram had an assist to go with his two goals. 

Rensselaer returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Union College at 6pm (the original opponent was Vassar College but an adjustment was made). The Thoroughbreds host Ithaca College on Wednesday at 4pm. Both games are Liberty League contests.