Gallery: Engineers edge out Buffalo in close victory

The Rensselaer Engineers defeated the SUNY Buffalo Bengals 28‒26 on November 2 at the East Campus Athletic Village Stadium. In the end, Rensselaer’s Peter Lombardi ’22, Marc Meislahn ’20, and Joe Scaglione ’22 were the difference makers, scoring four touchdowns between them and defeating Buffalo State.

RPI quickly gained the lead when Lombardi scored a touchdown in the first quarter at minute 9:13. After opening the scoring, the Engineers’ defense was not fully prepared for a drive by the Buffalo offense, which saw running back Joe Stewart score a 57 yard touchdown at minute 6:37. The remainder of the first quarter was less eventful with the quarter ending in a tie, 7‒7.

The second quarter started off with a five yard touchdown by Buffalo’s Martin Bailey at minute 13:56, putting Buffalo in the lead, 7‒14. In the middle of the second quarter, RPI’s offensive line could not handle Buffalo’s defense as quarterback George Marinopoulos ’21 was sacked, but kept possession of the ball. Late in the quarter, RPI’s Meislahn scored a touchdown, putting the score at 14‒14 going into halftime.

At minute 9:02 in the third quarter, Buffalo’s Tommy Carr completed a 32-yard field goal, putting Buffalo back in the lead, 14‒17. RPI regained the lead at 8:35 with a touchdown by Scaglione, making the score 21‒17. However, Buffalo was able to make the score 21‒24 by the end of the third quarter with a touchdown by Jordan Evert.

The game remained deadlocked at 21‒24 until halfway through the fourth quarter when Lombardi scored another touchdown making the score 28‒24 and giving RPI the lead. Buffalo State did not go down without a fight however, scoring two points near the end of the fourth quarter due to a safety. It was not enough though, as RPI was able to maintain this small lead and win the game with a final scoreline of 28‒26.

RPI now looks ahead to their senior day game against Ithaca College on November 9 at the ECAV Stadium at noon.