Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 31, 2009) – When the final horn sounded on Saturday at Gordon Field, the emotions on both sidelines were a picture of polar opposites. While the Vassar College men's soccer team had just seen a Liberty League playoff spot slip from its grasp, Rensselaer had secured itself the top spot in the league with a 4-0 win.

With a Union College win hurting Vassar's cause, and a Hamilton College loss helping Rensselaer's, it was worst case scenario for the Brewers and best case scenario for the Engineers. The Brewers needed a win or a Union loss to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2002. While the Engineers, who are ranked No. 7 in Division III in the most recent National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), had secured a playoff spot prior to Saturday's game, their position in the standings was far from decided. The Brewers conclude their season at 9-6-1, 3-3-1 in the league. The Engineers improve to 13-1-2, 6-1-0 and will take the No. 1 seed into the playoffs, hosting No. 4 Union on Wednesday.

The intensity and physicality on both sides of the ball throughout the game displayed the magnitude of the contest for both teams. The Engineers protected their one-goal halftime lead with three second half goals, keeping their one-loss season intact.

In a physical first half of play with 15 fouls between the teams, the Engineers held the edge, out-shooting the Brewers 8-4 and taking a 1-0 lead into halftime. RPI got on board in the 21st minute as freshman Tom Kelly stole the ball in the midfield and turned towards goal. A Vassar defender got in front of Kelly and attempted to clear the ball but it went right back to Kelly who fired a shot on goal that deflected off a diving Brewer into the back of the net.

The Brewers kept up the pressure and had numerous close calls in the minutes following RPI's first goal. In the 27th minute a perfectly placed throw-in from freshman Zander Mrlik landed directly in front of the net. Senior Brian Bianchetti got his head on the ball, but it caromed off an RPI defender out of bounds. Minutes later junior Jimmy Worboys sent a direct kick into the box from about 40 yards out. Mrlik out-jumped the crowd and directed a header on net, but it narrowly sailed over the crossbar.

Senior Lincoln Field got the Engineers started in the second half, netting his seventh goal of the season in the 50th minute. With a defender on his back about 20 yards out, Field turned and lofted an incredible shot on net just under the crossbar and beyond the fingertips of senior goalie Jake London.

Again the Brewers nearly responded, as Bianchetti sent a powerful shot on net just outside the 18-yard box that bounced off the crossbar back down into play. Junior Jake Weiss was there to get a foot on the rebound but his shot sailed over the net.

RPI's third goal came in the 63rd minute as senior Sean Fleury streaked up the left sideline and sent a cross into the box. Sliding into the pass, classmate Jabel Prom managed to one-time a shot into the back left corner of the net, his sixth goal of the season.

With just over a minute left in the game, the Engineers added on one more, as junior Bryce Hutchinson converted a cross from Kelly to net his third goal of the season.

The Engineers held an 18-11 advantage in shots in the game. The Brewers had the edge in corner kicks, 6-1, but were unable to convert as junior keeper Alex Penny proved solid in the net, punching away many of the offerings. Penny finished the day with two saves to improve to 12-1-2. London made six saves in goal in his final game for Vassar, including an impressive diving block on a Hutchinson shot in the 76th minute.

Vassar honored its five seniors, London, Bianchetti, Chris Nieminski, Alex Freund, and Guthrie Raimondo in a ceremony before the game.