TROY, N.Y. – The No. 5 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's lacrosse team matched up with the No. 2 RIT Tigers at ECAV Stadium in what was the most anticipated game in NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse game in the country on Saturday afternoon. The result did not disappoint those in attendance and those who tuned in to watch, as the Engineers and Tigers battled into overtime before graduate student Erik Ojert scored with just two seconds remaining in the extra frame to give RPI the 10-9 victory.
 
RPI jumped out to the early lead, scoring first at the 12:54 mark courtesy of an unassisted tally from Ely Kalkstein for the 1-0 lead. RIT evened the score about five minutes later, when Luke Pilcher scored on a dish from Jake Erickson to even the score at 1-1.
 
The Engineers wasted no time reclaiming the lead, but saw it vanish as both sides traded a pair of blows – with the Tigers tying the game at 3-3 with 8:07 left in the second quarter. That score stood into the half.
 
The Tigers jumped ahead for the first time in the game early in the third quarter, scoring their go-ahead goal just over two minutes into the second half. Clifford Gaston scored, with Jake Erickson connecting on the assist. However, the lead did not last long as Tyler Ruffini scored just over a minute later for RPI to tie the game back up at 4-4.
 
Those two goals led to a back-and-forth battle between the two sides, with Sean Smith scoring at the 5:43 mark for RPI to tie the game at 6-6. Smith's goal began a small 3-0 run for the Engineers as RPI opened up the largest lead of the day at 8-6.
 
However, RIT fought back and had a 3-0 run of their own to take a 9-8 lead with 9:45 to play in the fourth. But the Engineers answered the call just over a minute later once again, this time with Anthony Mazzella scoring his ninth goal of the season to tie the game at 9-9. Despite multiple attempts from both sides down the stretch that included great saves from both goaltenders, the game ended 9-9 in regulation and headed to overtime.
 
As time wound down in the first overtime period, a shot from Pilcher in a 2-on-1 situation drew a huge game-winning save from Perry – his 24^th of the game – giving the ball back to the Engineers with 24 seconds to play. RPI worked the ball around, with Ojert getting the ball behind the cage with about five seconds remaining.
 
He worked out in front of the net, turned to his right, and shot a low ball toward the net. The ball found a small opening as RIT goalkeeper Alex Zborowski got a slight piece of the ball, but not enough to keep it out of the cage as it trickled in for the game-winner.
 
RPI's Tyler Ruffini finished with a team-high five points with a hat trick and two assists, while Mazzella and Luke Murphy each finished with two points apiece. Angelo Venuto did his part in the faceoff X, winning 13 of 24 faceoffs with 10 ground balls.
 
For RIT, Erickson finished with three points with one goal and two assists to lead the way. Zborowski made 14 saves while allowing the 10 in the cage in the loss.
 
The Engineers return to action on Saturday, March 30 at 1 p.m. when they hit the road to take on Ithaca College at 1 p.m.