TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team needed one point to clinch a bid into the Liberty League Tournament and the Engineers did two better in defeating Clarkson University 3-0 in the regular season finale for both teams. RPI, the No. 4 seed, improves to 6-6-5 overall and 4-3-2 in the conference and will host No. 5 RIT on Tuesday (time TBD). The Golden Knights drop to 9-4-3 and 2-4-3.

RPI took the lead in the 38th minute when junior Kyle Osborne fought off a defender on the left sideline, beat another defender to the ball, and flicked a feed to Paul Silva as he was driving toward goal. Silva, a graduate student, touched the ball past Josh Morelli, Clarkson's goalie who charged out to try to smother the ball, for his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
 
Rensselaer made it 2-0 in the 57th minute when senior Joaquin Rodriguez sent his brother Julio, a sophomore, down the left side, where he picked up the ball 20 yards out. He beat Morelli to the ball and angled a left-footed shot along the turf into the center of the net.
 
Senior Liam McDermott made it 3-0 in the 86th minute when he arced the ball over a defender and into a vacated goal. Fellow senior Pedro Lara started the play when he won a 50-50 ball with the keeper, who had come out to the 15 in an attempt to pull it from the air. Lara took the loose ball off a bounce and sent it to McDermott on his left. A left-footed volley resulted in the first goal of McDermott's career and concluded the scoring.

The Engineers finished with advantages in both shots (14-6) and corner kicks (6-0). Senior Luke Brezak made three saves, while Morelli, a freshman, stopped three shots as well.

The Liberty League post-season begins on Tuesday with the bottom four seeds competing. The top two seeds have a bye and await the winners for semifinals games on Friday. The championship game is November 6 at the highest remaining seed.