TROY, N.Y. – RPI's defense stopped Rochester on back-to-back fourth down tries and produced touchdowns after each stop to post a 35-21 victory at ECAV Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The loss evens Rochester's record in the Liberty League to 2-2 with three games left. UR is 4-2 overall. RPI improved to 3-1 in the league. The Engineers are 5-2 overall.
 
The Yellowjackets roared back from a 21-7 deficit to tie the score at 21-all in the third quarter. Shane Saucier ran 69 yards for a touchdown and later in the period, Justin Redfern completed a 26-yard TD pass to Kyle Allegrini.
 
In the final period, Rochester went for it on fourth-and-one at the UR 29. The Yellowjacket offense had been moving the ball successfully, particularly in the second half. The running play was stopped and RPI took over.
 
Mike Tivinis ran six yards for the go-ahead TD for RPI and Christian Kapp kicked the PAT. It came one play after QB Jeff Avery completed a 16-yard pass to Pat Hogan on 3rd-and-4.
 
After the kickoff, Rochester's Dan Bronson gave himself a big boost by running 22 yards for a first down at midfield. After a four yard loss and a four-yard gain, Bronson scrambled for a five-yard gain. On fourth-and-5 at the RPI 45, Redfern returned to the game and his pass for David Angie was knocked away by the RPI defense.
 
Avery threw another 16-yard pass, this one to Matt Lane, to put the ball on the UR 35. Tivinis broke away for a 16-yard run to move the ball into the red zone. Three plays later, the Engineers had it first and goal on the five. Rochester's defense stepped up. The Yellowjackets stopped Nick Schlatz and then Matt Mender broke up two straight passes by Avery. That forced a 21-yard field goal attempt by Kapp which he made. Rochester was flagged for a roughing the kicker penalty. The ball moved two yards and RPI was awarded an automatic first down. Schlatz broke through the middle for a TD.
 
Rochester drove from its own 29 to the RPI 22. Redfern found Derek Wager at the 10-yard line but as Wager tried to move, the ball was jostled from him and recovered by RPI's Teague Florio. RPI used up a good deal of the clock and Rochester took over with just 45 seconds to play.
 
The Yellowjackets put together a masterful drive on their second possession of the game. An RPI punt pinned them at the UR 4 and a penalty set the ball back to the 2. Redfern directed a 98-yard TD drive, helped by a 49-yard strike to Farid Adenuga. Saucier took it in from the 2 to put Rochester up, 7-0. RPI promptly returned the kickoff 84 yards for a TD to knot it.

Redfern was intercepted three times – all in the first half. The first one set up the Engineers at midfield and that led to a 15-yard TD run by Schlatz for a 14-7 lead that carried through the first half.
 
Statistically, Rochester finished with 413 yards (189 on the ground, 224 through the air). RPI had an even 400 – 239 rushing, 161 passing.
 
Saucier finished with 113 yards on 12 carries and two TDs. Myles Allen had 30 yards on 12 carries and  Bronson ran four times for 27 yards.  Redfern completed 17 of 34 passes for 224 yards and one TD. He was picked off three times.  Adenuga had six catches for 83 yards. Allegrini had three catches for 52 yards, including the TD.
 
Defensively for Rochester, David Wolff and Thomas Marone had 11 tackles each. Chris Merenich and R.J. Borgolini had 10.
 
For RPI, Schlatz rushed 27 times for 115 yards and two TDs. Tivinis had 12 carries for 80 yards (one TD), and Matt Lane had seven carries for 23 yards and one TD. Avery was 16 of 33 for 161 yards. He did not throw a TD pass and was not picked off. Phil Lanieri had two of the three interceptions of Redfern.