ITHACA, N.Y. - Freshman Emilio Van Cotthem closed out a three-set match at No. 2 singles to complete a come-from-behind victory for the No. 22 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's tennis team that gave the Engineers a 5-3 win over Skidmore College and the Liberty League Championship. RPI's finals win comes with an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship - the second in school history (2018). 

The Engineers, who are now 15-2, dropped No. 3 doubles in a tiebreak to fall behind, but the No. 1 pair of Aiden Drover-Mattinen and Peter Lohrbach evened things with an 8-3 win. Like at No. 3, the No. 2 doubles match went to a tiebreak and once again the Thoroughbreds prevailed.

Needing to win four singles matches for the title, RPI tied the match at 2-2 when freshman Igor Visnevskij won at No. 3, 6-4, 6-1. It was one of only two matches to end in two sets. The other was a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory by another freshman, Drover-Mattinen at No. 1, that gave the Engineers their first lead.

Lohrbach, a senior, bounced back from a loss in the first set at No. 6 to win 0-6, 6-2, 6-4 for a 4-2 lead. The Thoroughbreds stayed alive with a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-1) win by Tristan Thiebaut at No. 5, but Van Cotthem ended the match with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win at No. 2.

Rensselaer's win over Skidmore was its second of the season after a 5-4 triumph on April 9 on the road. The Thoroughbreds conclude the campaign at 8-11.

The NCAA Tournament participants announcement is expected by noon on Monday. When it competed in the national championship event in 2018, RPI traveled to Bowdoin College, where it advanced to the third round.