POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – It was a defensive battle that came down to a shootout as Skidmore College advanced past Vassar College in one of two Liberty League Men's Soccer Semifinal games on Tuesday. The game, which was officially a 0-0 draw, came down to a shootout that saw Skidmore advance 3-2.
The third-seeded Thoroughbreds advance to Sunday's Championship Game, facing off against top-seeded and nationally-ranked St. Lawrence, who defeated RIT, 1-0 in Friday's other semifinal game. Game time in Canton is set for 1:30pm on Sunday. Skidmore moves to 9-3-6 on the season, while second-seeded Vassar is now 9-3-5 overall.
Locked in a 0-0 battle after playing two 10-minute overtime periods, the two squads chose their players for the shootout as it came down to each netminder with senior
Eric Wnorowski in for the Brewers and senior Bobby Stratts for Skidmore.
The Brewers got on the board first as sophomore forward
Duncan Keker fired a shot in past Stratts. Skidmore was up next as senior midfielder Ethan Kilmnick lined up, but his shot clanked off the right post and out.
Senior midfielder
Owen Fauth was next up, his shot being saved by a diving Stratts as Skidmore sent senior forward Finn Weber to the box. Lining up, he buried his shot in to make it a 1-1 affair. Next up for Vassar was rookie middie
Diego Pastor-Valverde, who's shot was quickly saved.
Junior forward Kamal Ibrahim took the next attempt for the Thoroughbreds, burying it past Wnorowski to give the visitors the 2-1 advantage in the shootout, but sophomore defender
Charlie Rodhouse quickly tied it up with a shot into the left corner for Vassar.
Skidmore sent up sophomore midfielder Ethan Slager on its next attempt, who buried it for the 3-2 lead and Stratts came up big on Vassar's final attempt, stopping senior midfielder
Ryan Lane's shot to seal the victory to move on to the Championship Game.
For the game, the Brewers owned a 16-14 edge in shots, including a 6-4 on goal margin. Vassar also had a 16-4 advantage on corner kicks.
In goal, Stratts finished with six saves, while Wnorowski made four stops in the contest.
