Box Score

CANTON, NY (November 2, 2011) – The Vassar College men's soccer team tied top-ranked St. Lawrence University 0-0 and advanced to the Liberty League Championship game on penalty kicks 3-1 on Wednesday at Archie MacAllaster Field.

“St. Lawrence is the number one team in the country for a reason; they're tremendously skillful and a well-coached team,” said head coach Andy Jennings. “We managed to stay with them. Both teams battled hard and it came down to the PKs.”

The Brewers (10-5-3, 4-3-1 Liberty) snapped the Saints (16-1, 8-0 Liberty) 16-game winning streak and will travel to Rochester Institute of Technology (11-6-2, 5-2-1 Liberty) for the Liberty Championship game on Saturday, November 5, at 1:00 p.m. The No. 3 seed RIT defeated the No. 2 seed Hobart 2-0 in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Up against the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) six-week National No. 1 and the only undefeated and untied team remaining in Division III, Vassar dug in for 110 minutes of scoreless soccer to force a penalty shoot-out.

Vassar junior Gary Clauss, who was subbed into goal for Ryan Grimme in the first overtime, made two diving saves on the Saint's first two attempts to give Vassar a 1-0 lead after senior Sam Erlichson-McCarthy scored on the first penalty kick. 

“Ryan kept us in the game, made some tremendous saves and was a massive presence in the back,” said Jennings. “Gary is a tremendous shot-stopper. The way he practiced on Monday, we knew he would be the guy for a shoot-out.”

Senior captain Ross Macklin connected on Vassar's third attempt and Alex Laird matched his effort to bring St. Lawrence within a tally at 2-1 after three rounds.

Junior captain Zander Mrlik struck Vassar's third point for a 3-1 Vassar lead. With a chance to keep the Saints alive, Mark Provost's attempt sailed right and Vassar celebrated its 3-1 win on penalty kicks.

St. Lawrence tested the Brewer defense with a 29-12 advantage in shots and a 13-5 edge in corners but Vassar held stout. Grimme made a career-high 15 saves in goal.

“As a unit we defended really well and we had a play on one of their better players,” said Jennings. “Facing the stiff wind, they put a ton of pressure on us in the first period but we made some adjustments to hold them.”

This is the program's first trip to the Liberty League Championship game.

Saint goaltender Brian Abernethy made four saves.