Box Score NCAA INTERACTIVE BRACKET
NCAA DIGITAL PROGRAM
TROY, N.Y. – The No. 11 Amherst College men's lacrosse team pulled away to a 16-11 victory over No. 13 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Wednesday afternoon's NCAA Division III First Round tilt at East Campus Stadium in Troy, N.Y.
Amherst (13-4) will take on Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) (17-1) in a NCAA Second Round showdown Saturday, May 14 at Tiger Stadium in Rochester, N.Y. RPI concludes its season 13-6 overall.
FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS
- Amherst drew first blood at the 11:20 mark of the first period when Kane Haffey '16 scored on a feed from Charlie Gill '16 to make it 1-0. The Purple & White added a second tally at the 10:35 mark as Brogan Mahon '19 found the back of the net to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
- RPI answered as Jake Weidner and JT Kelly connected for back-to-back strikes less than two minutes apart to even the game at 2-2.
- Weidner then put the Engineers ahead, 3-2 when he found the back of the net at the 5:47 mark. The goal was assisted by Kelly.
- Early in the second quarter, Haffey scorched the back of the cage for a second time following a dish from Quinn Moroney '16 to make it 3-3 at the 14:37 mark. Twenty-three seconds later, Brian O'Malley '17 gave Amherst a 4-3 lead when he scored an unassisted goal.
- The Purple & White extended its lead to 5-3 when Moroney potted an unassisted goal at the 12:29 mark.
- RPI answered back when Kelly scored a man-up goal at the 10:39 mark following a pass from Matthew Gilman. Less than half a minute later, Matt Hall delivered the game-tying goal assisted by Billy Gibbs to make it 5-5 with 10:10 remaining in the half.
- At the 8:20 mark, Dylan Park '16 added a goal to give the Purple & White a 6-5 edge.
- Mark Surgent responded with a goal at the 7:35 mark to tie the game at 6-6, but Moroney collected his second of the game moments later as Amherst posted a 7-6 lead with just seven minutes left in the stanza.
- With 1:21 remaining in the first half, Andrew Ford '19 gave the Purple & White its third two-goal lead of the contest. Rob Butko '16 assisted the score to make it 8-6.
- Amherst outshot the Engineers, 21-16 in the first half, while goalie Thomas Gilligan '16 made four saves in the first 30 minutes of play.
SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS
- Early in the third quarter, Amherst secured its largest lead of the contest when Gill scored a man-up goal on a feed from behind the net by Moroney. The assist was his 60th of the season and 260th of his career to help set the score at 9-6 with 12:26 on the clock.
- Just 26 seconds later, Ian Kadish '18 won the face off for Amherst and then scored to make it 10-6. A third goal in less than two minutes made it 11-6 in favor of the Purple & White as Haffey found the back of the net for a third time to give the visitors a five-goal cushion at the 11:35 mark.
- Brett Inglesby '18 then helped Amherst double its lead to 12-6 when he scored at the 9:57 assisted by Moroney.
- Amherst scored its fifth goal of the frame when Park struck the netting following a dish from Gill to make it 13-6 with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter.
- RPI pulled a goal back when Weidner scored on a pass from Kelly with a flag down to make it 13-7 with 5:17 remaining in the third quarter. The Engineers then pulled to within five when Breanainn McNeally fired in a shot following a dish from Gilman to set the score at 13-8.
- With time expiring in the session, Connor Sheehan '18 ripped a point-blank shot that was turned away by RPI goalie David Gibbs to keep the score at 13-8 after 45 minutes of play.
- With 11:17 on the clock in the fourth quarter, McNeally pulled the Engineers to within four (13-9) on the extra-man opportunity. Weidner then scored with the help of Gilman to set the score at 13-10 at the 8:44 mark.
- Amherst halted the RPI rally when Park scored his third of the contest on a feed from Moroney to make it 14-10 with 6:35 left to play in the regulation.
- A man-up goal by Gill, assisted by Litner with 4:44 on the clock pushed the visitor's advantage back to five goals at 15-10.
- With 2:35 remaining in regulation, Weidner scored his fifth of the game, while Kelly provided the helper to set the score at 15-11.
- Ford then scored an empty-net goal at the 1:37 mark and set the final score at 16-11.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Gilligan earned the win to improve to 3-1 between the pipes, making 10 saves.
- Moroney led the Purple & White with seven ground balls, while Ford added five.
- The Purple & White also edged RPI, 16-14 in face offs.