The men’s lacrosse team returned victorious from their afternoon road trip to New Jersey over the last weekend during spring break. The Red Hawks defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson University Devils 9-3 in non-conference action to improve their record to 3-1, while the home-standing Devils have yet to win a game and are stuck at 0-3. The teams were tied at three apiece at 5:57 of the third quarter, but RPI would outscore FDU 5-1 in that quarter and go on to win the game handily, finishing with a 6-0 run.
Junior Ryan Bigham was the Red Hawk to break the tie as things got going for the visitors. Up 7-3 heading into the final quarter, RPI had scores by sophomore Devin Arnold and senior Alex MacDiarmid in the final frame.
The game started off slowly for both teams’ offenses, with senior Mike Sampson getting on the board first with 8:48 left in the second quarter; classmate Briggs Thompson was given the assist.
MacDiarmid headed the Red Hawks with three goals in the game, Senior Tom O’Dwyer followed with two goals, and Thompson had two assists. Sophomore goalie Ryan DeJordy had 14 saves in his second win of the season.
The previous weekend, the team was in Colorado Springs and defeated host Colorado Springs College 14-4. Freshman Nick Billy had an outstanding performance with four goals and two assists. The Tigers were stunned by the quick attack of the visiting Red Hawks, and found themselves down 9-2 at the half.
RPI had piled on the points early with several multi-point efforts by players including junior Josh Secora, MacDiarmid, and Arnold. Secora was first to score, finding the back of the net at 13:23 in the first quarter. RPI scored twice more before the Tigers could respond with one of their own at 7:44.
The Liberty League honored two Red Hawks for their performances: DeJordy and Billy were named Defensive and Rookie of the Week, respectively.
RPI travels to Oneonta State for a 5:30 pm game today, while the Devils head south to Florida to play SUNY Geneseo in a 2 pm game.
