CLEARWATER, Fla. – Junior attack Alex MacDiarmid (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) scored the game-tying goal late in the fourth quarter and then tallied the game-winner in overtime to lead the Rensselaer men's lacrosse team to an 8-7 win over Wittenberg in a non-league game. RPI improves to 2-0 while the Tigers fall to 0-1.

MacDiarmid finished with a game-high four goals, including the game-tying marker with approximately five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. He ended the game with just 2:23 remaining in overtime when he collected his own rebound and tallied from just outside the goal.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first quarter, Rensselaer scored the next four goals for a 4-1 lead after the first quarter. Wittenberg pulled to within 4-3 before RPI scored again to lead 5-3 at halftime. The Tigers scored the first three goals of the second half for a 6-5 lead and the two teams traded goals until MacDiarmid's back-to-back scores.

Junior Briggs Thompson (South Lyme, CT/South Lyme) added two goals and classmate Mike Sampson (Columbus, OH/Upper Arlington) a goal and an assist for Rensselaer. Sophomore Josh Secora (Evergreen, CO/Golden) scored once for the Red Hawks, who got four saves from senior starter Ryan Michels (Wilmington, DE/Brandywine) and five from junior John Thibdeau (Altamont, NY/Bethlehem). Thibdeau, who allowed three goals, earned the win.

For Wittenberg, freshman Brian Welton (Germantown, TN/Houston) scored three goals, freshman Jeff Capella (Columbus, OH/Worthington Kilbourne) added a goal and two assists, and junior John Van Vranken (North Canton, OH/Hoover) had a goal and an assist. Two others had a single goals. Senior goalie Pat Garlock (Columbus, OH/St. Charles) made eight saves.

2007-03-08