RPI men’s lacrosse upends Union, matching best start and longest win streak in program

TROY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — The No. 2 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s lacrosse team rode the hot hand of graduate student Luke Murphy , as he scored six times to help the Engineers remain undefeated in a 16-12 victory over No. 7 Union College Saturday afternoon at ECAV Stadium. With the win, RPI collects their 13 ^th win of the season, while Union falls to 9-3 overall.

Union opened with momentum, taking an early 2-1 lead halfway through the opening quarter. Michael Shaw and Justin Greene each scored for the Garnet Chargers while Cooper Roman scored the opening goal for RPI at the 9:37 mark. Murphy then made his mark, scoring his first goal of the day to kickstart a 4-0 run that Zach Swanson capped with the opening goal of the second quarter to give the Engineers a 5-2 lead.

RPI maintained a lead throughout the second, despite Union cutting the lead to just two with two goals in a span of five seconds at the 3:08 and 3:03 marks to make it an 8-6 score. However, the Engineers responded with two goals of their own, as Sean Smith scored a first-half closing goal with just seconds remaining to send RPI up four – 10-6 – into the locker room at the midway point.

The Garnet Chargers opened the second half with a goal in the opening two minutes, but would not get as close the remainder of the game. RPI scored three in a row after Union’s opening goal of the second half, producing their largest lead at six goals with a 13-7 lead at the 7:38 mark. Murphy scored four of his six goals in the second half to lead the Engineers to the win.

Tyler Ruffini backed up Murphy’s performance with a three assist afternoon, while Zach Swanson also added three points with two goals and an assist. Four other Engineers collected two points apiece, while Jospeh Perry was strong in the net making 18 saves.

For Union, Shaw led the way with a five point afternoon with three goals and two assists, while Matthew Paolatto added four points on two goals and two assists. Peter Kip scored three times, while Dan Donahue made 15 saves in net.

RPI returns to action this Wednesday, April 17 at 6 p.m. when they face Amherst College on the road in non-conference action.

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