TROY, N.Y. - Powered by an explosive seven-goal third quarter, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) went on to post a 19-11 victory over Vassar College in men's lacrosse action on Wednesday afternoon. It marked the season finale for both teams as the Engineers finish 2-2 overall, while the Brewers are 1-5.

RPI opened the game's scoring as graduate attack Owen Putman buried a feed from senior midfielder Ryan Cole at the 12:49 mark of the first quarter. The Brewers countered 34 seconds later as rookie attack Jon Bradbury fired one home, but back-to-back scores from Cole saw the homestanding Engineers open a 3-1 advantage with 10:17 left in the first.

Senior midfielder Michael Killion closed the gap for the Brewers at 7:57, but another RPI tally, this time from senior attack Tim Oslislo, made it a two-goal (4-2) game once again. RPI got two late tallies from senior midfielders Will Hatcher and Connor Schnapp over the final 1:31 to take a 6-2 lead into the second quarter.
Despite the possession arrow in the home team's favor, it was the Brewers who dominated the scoreboard in the second quarter.

The second goal of the game from Killion at 12:20 cut the lead to 6-3, while sophomore attack Maximus Albanese buried a feed from rookie attack Troy Santise at 7:21 to make it 6-4. RPI got one back as senior midfielder Jason Bram netted a goal at 5:24, but a Santise goal at 3:08, followed less than a minute later by Albanese's second of the contest pulled it to 7-6 – a score that held until intermission.

Out of the break, the Engineers bounced back in the opening minute as senior long stick middie Chris Abbate, off a Cole feed, opened an 8-6 edge in the third. Vassar retaliated at 10:12 as Killion scored his third of the contest, fed off a pass by junior midfielder Tommy Van Pelt, but back-to-back goals from Oslislo and Hatcher in a nine-second span made it a 10-7 game with 9:36 left in the third quarter.

The Engineers were able to make it a three-goal cushion at 5:37 as Oslislo found Hatcher alone in front of the Vassar goal for RPI's 11th tally of the contest. RPI quickly pushed the lead to 12-7 with 37 seconds to go in the third as Schnapp converted from Bram.

Bram earned his fourth assist of the game at the 4:29 mark, helping the Engineers go up by a 13-7 margin with a feed to senior midfielder Nicholas Colucci in front past Vassar netminder Aidan Gallagher. Another Cole goal pushed the RPI advantage further, but Vassar struck back with 29 seconds in the quarter as rookie attack Ian Zumpano netted his third of the year to make it a 14-8 margin heading into the final quarter.

In the fourth stanza, RPI continued to press, as Bram found Hatcher early in the frame. But the Brewers bounced back as senior defender Zack Henig scored the first goal of his career at 12:22, carrying the ball in on the clear and firing a long shot into an empty RPI net with the goalie out of position. The Brewers followed with Zumpano's second of the contest to make it 15-10.

Despite the momentum, the Engineers kept the pressure up in the offensive zone as freshman midfielder Zach Swanson scored, followed by another Bram tally at 10:07 to make it a 17-10 advantage for the home team.

Following a pair of RPI tallies, Vassar senior midfielder Joseph Bradley netted his first of the contest with 3:37 to play for a 19-11 margin, but the Brewers were unable to get any closer before the clock expired.

RPI was paced by a four-goal, one assist game from Hatcher, while Cole added three goals and two assists. Bram notched three scores with four helpers, as Oslislo chipped in with two tallies and two assists on the day. In goal, senior Brian Doughty picked up the win with seven saves. Sophomore Garrett Gagnon came on in relief and made one stop.

For Vassar, Killion recorded a team-best three goals. Albanese and Zumpano each added two scores, while Santise notched a goal and a helper. In goal, Gallagher shouldered the loss, stopping 10 shots on the afternoon. Rookie Danny Goldman came on in relief, making four saves in the game.