Two goals each from Paddy Condon and Daniel Mahoney and Michael Marinello's 19 saves were not enough as the fifth-ranked and third-seeded RPI Engineers edged the third-ranked and second-seeded St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team 7-6 in the Liberty League Semifinals on Friday afternoon at Hall-Leet Stadium.

Condon also led the Saints with eight ground balls and was 10-for-17 at the faceoff dot. Bobby Wells had a goal and an assist and Judge Murphy was the other goal scorer for the Scarlet and Brown. Tripp Clark caused four turnovers and had six ground balls on defense, while Alex Bechard had two caused turnovers and two ground balls. 

Six days after the Saints upset the Engineers on the road, RPI got on the board first for the 1-0 lead. Immediately after this goal, Condon won the faceoff and took it all the way to the other end for a goal, just six seconds after the Engineers scored. Mahoney scored shortly thereafter to give the Saints a 2-1 lead to cap the scoring in a three-goal first quarter. 

The Engineers used their defense and three goals to shut out the Saints in the second, as they led 4-2 at halftime.  

With the game now 5-2 in favor of RPI, Mahoney finally got the Saints another goal with his second of the night in the third. After this, in a very similar play to the one in the first quarter, Condon cleanly won the faceoff, took the ball to the other end and fired a shot into the Engineers net five seconds after Mahoney. RPI scored 30 seconds after Condon's, but Wells got on the board later in the quarter and the Saints were able to bring the game back within one before the fourth quarter.

In a defensive minded last quarter, both teams had plenty of chances, but the defense shined for both sides. After over 12 minutes of back-and-forth action with no goals, Judge Murphy found the back of the net to tie the game at six. After each team got a stop, RPI took a timeout to set up a play with 1:16 remaining. Taking down the shot clock to its limits, the Engineers scored with eight seconds left.

"That felt like a 15 round heavy weight bout with two really good teams going at each other," said head coach Mike Mahoney. "Things didn't come easy at times, but I am really proud of the compete level throughout. They just happened to have the last good look on the offensive end."
 
"If that wasn't two NCAA tournament teams out there battling today, I would be in complete shock and dismay.  We will just have to wait and see."



Anthony Mazzella had a hat trick for the Engineers, while also scoring the game winning goal. Angelo Venuto and Luke Murphy had seven and six ground balls, respectively. 

Both goalies were on point, as Marinello saved 19-of-26 for the Saints, and Joseph Perry saved 16-of-22 for RPI. 

RPI held the shots advantage 55-39 and narrowly beat the Saints in shots on goal 26-22. The Engineers were 1-for-1 in extra man opportunities, while St. Lawrence was 0-for-2. 

St. Lawrence will wait for the selection show Sunday night at 9 p.m. to see if they will earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.