TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's lacrosse team earned an 11-10 victory over Williams this evening inside ECAV Stadium.

Cooper Manzi led the Engineers with a team-high five points on four goals and one assist, while Sean Smith added three goals, including a pair of fourth-quarter tallies that proved to be the difference. Tyler Ruffini scored twice and Easton Morse chipped in two points (one goal, one assist) as RPI received scoring from five different players. In net, Hunter Sullivan anchored the defensive effort with 15 saves.

RPI struck first when Manzi opened the scoring with an unassisted finish two minutes in, and he added another solo tally at 9:42 to help the Engineers build a 2-1 edge early. Williams answered with three straight goals to take a 4-2 lead, but RPI closed the opening quarter with a key response as Ruffini finished a Morse feed with 90 seconds left in the stanza to cut the margin to 4-3.

The Engineers evened the contest early in the second when Smith converted a Manzi assist at 12:42, and after Williams briefly regained the lead at 8:16, Manzi answered again with his third unassisted goal of the day to send the teams into halftime tied, 5-5.

Williams opened the third with a goal 30 ticks into the second half, but RPI delivered the decisive surge in the middle of the period. Morse tied it with an unassisted marker at 10:32, Ruffini put the Engineers in front two minutes later off a Robby McDonald assist, and after Williams pulled even at 7-7, Manzi scored again before Andrew Childs made it 9-7 on an unassisted finish at 2:33. Williams trimmed the deficit late with a man-up goal in the final minute of the quarter, but RPI carried a 9-8 advantage into the final quarter.

Williams tied the game at 9-9 just 47 seconds into the fourth, but RPI responded with timely finishing down the stretch. Smith scored unassisted with the ultimate game-winner with nine minutes remaining to put the Engineers back in front, and he struck again with four minutes left, this time off a Jackson Massaroni assist, to make it 11-9. Williams added a late goal at 3:35 to close within one, but RPI held on over the final minutes, including clutch saves down the stretch from Sullivan, to secure the one-goal win.

RPI travels to Skidmore for its first league contest at 12:00 pm on Saturday before beginning a three-game homestand.