WESLEYAN, Conn. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's lacrosse team began its 2025 NCAA Division III Championship journey with a 14-10 win against Williams this afternoon at regional host Wesleyan University.

The Engineers were able to jump ahead early before holding off a late push by the Eephs. RPI scored 10 of the first 14 goals through the first two and half quarters, however a 6-1 rally by Williams in a seven minute span tightened the margin to 11-10 going to the final quarter.

Maintaining a one-goal led, the Engineers scored the final three goals of the day and shut out Williams in the final 15 minutes to advance to a third round date with Wesleyan.

Easton Morse and Evan Whatley netted three goals each to propel RPI to the win. The Engineers also received two goals apiece from Sean Smith, Zach Swanson, Tyler Ruffini, and Erik Ojert.

Morse and Whatley both pocketed two goals in a first half that ended with RPI leading 7-3. The duo would each finish their hat-trick efforts with third-quarter tallies. The other four Engineer's scorers contributed one goal on either side of halftime.

Ruffini dished out a team-high three assists to finish with five points. Morse and Ojert finished with two assists apiece to total five and four points, respectively. Whatley added an assist to reach the four-point mark as well.

Cooper Roman assisted on two goals and Angelo Venuto and Smith added one apple each. Ty Stanek caused three turnovers and collected four ground balls to highlight the defensive effort. Drew Teff had two CTs and Joseph Perry stopped 14 shots in net, additionally.

Looking ahead, RPI and Wesleyan begin third-round play with a 3:00 pm start tomorrow back on Citrin Field.