Troy, N.Y.- A spirited second-half comeback would fall just short of the mark as the Clarkson University Men's Lacrosse team would drop a Liberty League contest, 8-7, to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Saturday afternoon.
Clarkson moves to 8-4 overall, 1-2 in league play while RPI, who were ranked at number 5 nationally in the latest rankings by USA Lacrosse, improves to 11-1 overall, 3-1 in the league.
The Engineers would strike first on a man-up opportunity, just over four minutes into the contest, before rattling off two more goals under the eight-minute mark of the first quarter, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Clarkson managed to create eight shots in the opening quarter, with four of those finding the target, but were unable to find the back of the net with the hosts' defense limiting any close-range efforts.
Andrew Kearney would find the breakthrough for the Knights at the 10:01 mark in the second quarter on a shot from just outside the goalie crease following a nice feed from Joe Kelly out front. RPI would have an answer however, scoring just over two minutes later to push the lead back up to three. Despite a strong defensive effort from goalie Griffin Emerson and the Clarkson defense, that ended up seeing the Knights in their defensive zone for about three minutes straight, the Engineers would add another with just under two minutes until the break to push the lead to 5-1. The Knights would string together some dangerous chances of their own to close out the half with shots from Kearney and Alex Seiler sailing just wide of the target before RPI's netminder, Joseph Perry stood tall to make an impressive stop to keep Connor Matthews off the scoreboard for Clarkson.
Into the second half, Seiler got Clarkson out to a quick start of their own, going 1v1 against his defender at the center of the field before shifting his stick over to his left shoulder and firing a shot past the RPI goalie. Following a late hit, Clarkson would go a man-up for the first time in the game but would be unable to eat into the lead any more following a save and successful clearance by the hosts that burnt out the remaining time on the penalty. Less than 30 seconds after coming back to full strength, the Engineers would add another courtesy of a Zach Swanson shot that evaded the stick of Emerson to create a 6-2 advantage. Following another RPI goal that made it 7-2, Seiler and Kerney would both produce unassisted goals just over a minute apart to bring the Knights back within striking distance at 7-4. Kearney would add another off a cross-field feed from Robert Fox, with just 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter to cut the lead to two.
RPI would open the fourth quarter with another early tally at the 10:27 mark. The Knights would continue to mount pressure on the Engineers defense however, as Robert Fox scooped up a loose ball close to the net and dispatched a shot into the upper half of the hosts' net, keeping the lead at two, 8-6, with just over seven minutes remaining in the contest. With time ticking down, Dylan Coan came up with a loose ball in the Knights defensive zone and took off down the field by himself carrying the ball to the RPI end and unleashing a shot that found its way into the Engineer goal to bring the Knights within one with just about two minutes remaining. Winning the ensuing faceoff, Clarkson would have another final attempt with 27 seconds remaining in the game as Matthews was again denied by Perry, eliminating the comeback threat by the Knights.
Clarkson would hold the advantage in faceoffs going 10-19, while RPI would control shots (46-36), shots on goal (23-19) and clears, going 20 for 20 in the game.
Kearney led the Knights with three goals as Seiler added two and Coan and Fox accounted for the remaining two. Logan Wilkinson collected five ground balls while also posting an impressive 7-10 record in the faceoff circle. Matt Szwagulinski helped anchor the Knights defense forcing three turnovers while scooping up three ground balls.
Emerson would make 15 saves in net for the Knights while Perry would be credited with 12 for RPI.
