Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 18, 2008) – The Vassar College men's soccer team played even with one of the Liberty League's top teams on Saturday, but saw its league playoff hopes disappear in a 1-0 loss to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) at Gordon Field.

The Brewers drop to 6-6-0, 1-4-0 in the league. The Red Hawks improve to 10-3-1, and remain undefeated in the league, at 5-0-0. RPI has not allowed a goal in league play this season.

In an evenly-played game, the lone score came as a result of miscommunication in the Vassar backfield, as a ball headed back to goalie Jake London (Albany, NY/Albany) led to a Brewer own-goal, getting RPI on the board in the 28th minute.

Vassar made an offensive push in the final minutes of the game, but the Brewers got a tough break in the 87th minute, as senior Matt Belli (Poughkeepsie, NY//Arlington) appeared to be shoved from behind in the box, with no resulting call on the play.

Both teams had some of their best opportunities in the second half. The Red Hawks opened up the second period on the offensive, as Michael Long (Hopkinton, NH/Hopkinton) rocketed a shot off the crossbar less than two minutes into the period. Just a couple minutes later, Red Hawk Bryce Hutchinson (Elverson, PA/Twin Valley) got himself open for a good shot in the box that went slightly wide of the goal. The Red Hawks kept up the offensive pressure, as Mike Henzel (Niwot, CO/Niwot) sent a diving header towards the net off a corner kick, but the shot went into the side netting.

The tables turned later in the half, as the Brewers notched up their offensive pressure. Vassar got one of its best opportunities of the game in the 73rd minute when Jon Hootnick (Marblehead, MA/Marblehead) knocked the ball away from diving Red Hawk goalie Alex Penny (Northport, NY/Northport), allowing Hootnick to turn a ball on the unmanned goal. However, Hootnick's shot went just high, landing on top of the net. The Brewers had another close call with under ten minutes to play, as Jake Weiss (Hartsdale, NY/Ardsley) flicked a pass from Ben Scaglione (Elizabethtown, NY/Elizabethtown Lewis), backwards toward the goal, but the shot rolled just wide.

With the ball in the midfield for much of the game, neither team managed to put together sustained offensive attacks, as the Brewers record four shots on goal, while the Red Hawks had three. In the evenly-matched game, RPI outshot the Brewers by just two, 16-14. Vassar held the edge in corner kicks, 4-2.

Penny (10-3-1) had four saves in goal for the Red Hawks, while London (3-5-0) had two.