TROY, N.Y. – Senior Cory Barkoff scored six goals but the Skidmore College men's lacrosse team fell to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) , 10-9, in Liberty League action on Wednesday. With the victory, the #19 Engineers move to 2-0 in conference play and are now 7-1 overall. The Thoroughbreds fall to 4-3 on the season and are 0-1 in Liberty League action.

Barkoff (Woodbury, N.Y./Syosset) cut the lead to on at 10-9 on his sixth goal of the game with 42 seconds remaining, but the Engineers defense held on in the for the win.

Rensselaer pressured in the offensive zone through the final 15 minutes, rallying off five straight goals, including a pair from Valero just 41 seconds apart to make it a 10-7 advantage. Senior Devin Arnold (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) got things going at the 11:07 mark, followed by Valero's tallies, which gave RPI its first lead since 12:01 of the second quarter.

Billy and Arnold closed out the scoring for the Engineers, but the Thoroughbreds answered late in the game as senior Rob Lutin (Port Washington, NY/Schreiber) got a shot past RPI netminder James Manchester (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) with just 58 seconds remaining.

It was the visitors who took control in the opening half as Skidmore matched the homestanding Engineers goal for goal to open the game. Barkoff tied things at 1-1 at 3:46 of the first quarter and scored another equalizer at 11:17 of the second stanza to make it 3-all giving the Thoroughbreds momentum as they scored five straight goals for the 7-3 lead at the half.

Led by Valero's three goals, Rensselaer also saw Billy score a pair of goals and add two assists. Senior Paul Carone (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) had three assists, while Arnold added two goals. In goal, Manchester earned his seventh win of the season, stopping 12 shots.

For Skidmore, Barkoff had a game-best six tallies. Lutin and juniors Matt Levesque (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) and Michael Jennings (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) each had a goal. Senior Flip Bongaerts (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) shouldered the loss, making three saves to fall to 4-3 overall.

Rensselaer (7-1) is back in action on Saturday at league-rival Hamilton (1pm), while the Thoroughbreds welcome conference-foe St. Lawrence to Saratoga Springs, also on Saturday (1pm).