The Middlebury men's lacrosse team dropped a 14-11 decision to visiting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Sunday afternoon on Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium. Middlebury (1-2) returns to NESCAC action Saturday when it travels to Trinity for a 1:00 p.m. start, while the Engineers (6-0) host Vassar on the same day at 12:00 p.m.

The Engineers scored the only three goals in the opening quarter, including a bouncing shot from 10 yards out by Tyler Nails with 4:42 for a 3-0 lead.

The Panthers battled back to knot the contest at 3-3 just 2:53 into the second quarter, as Gray Thomas cut across the crease and scored into the upper-right corner over RPI goalie Joseph Perry's left shoulder. The game remained tied for more than eight minutes until Engineer Cooper Urban snuck a shot just past Panther goalie Finn O'Connor with 3:48 left before halftime. Goals by Middlebury's William Ryan and Finn Muldoon just 45 seconds apart gave the hosts a 5-4 edge. RPI answered with a tally by Luke Murphy from 15 yards out with 1:25 remaining to tie the contest at 5-5. Connor Glosner scored just three seconds before halftime on a quick-stick goal for a 6-5 advantage.

In the third quarter, Angelo Venuto won the opening faceoff, grabbed the groundball and scored just seven seconds into play on a bouncing shot. The visitors kept the momentum on their side in the stanza, outscoring Middlebury 5-2 in the quarter for a 12-7 advantage heading into the final stanza. Rhys Zoldi recorded a pair of man-up tallies during the stretch for RPI.

Trailing 13-8 in the fourth frame, Ryan found the back of the net for Middlebury with a high shot just under the crossbar at 8:24, while Will Zink scored on a nifty feed from the X by Gordon Pollock to cut the deficit to three (13-10) with 5:41 on the clock. Venuto won the ensuing faceoff and scored 10 seconds later for a four-goal RPI lead. Jack Sheehan scored with five seconds left for the Panthers on an extra-man opportunity for the final 14-11 tally.

Ryan led the Panther offense with three goals, while Muldoon, Sheehan and Tyler Forbes each scored twice. Luke Simpson scooped up a team-high six groundballs, while William Munroe had four. Garrett Hawthorne went 8-of-12 at the faceoff X, while O'Connor finished with 12 saves in the Middlebury goal.

Murphy paced a balanced attack for the Engineers with three goals, while Trey Froelich and Venuto each had two goals and an assist. Venuto collected a game-best seven groundballs, while Perry recorded 23 saves for the Engineers.