Middlebury, VT – First Year
Arden Tobolski (Chapel Hill, NC) notched his second career hat trick on Saturday as the Vassar College Men's Soccer team knocked off #12 Rowan 3-0 in the First Round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Jacob Raphan (Oceanside, NY) earned the shutout in goal, matching his career-high with 10 saves.
Saturday's meeting was the first ever between the Brewers and Profs with the win pushing Vassar to 13-3-3 overall on the season. The victory advances Vassar to the Second Round for the fourth time in program history and moves the Brewers to 4-0-1 in their last five games.
How It Happened
- Vassar wasted little time breaking the ice on Saturday, getting the Tobolski marker just 2:50 into the contest.
- Following a free-kick, Eli Torrey (Philadelphia, PA) played a ball from the left wing into the box that Tobolski headed inside the right post for the only goal of the opening period.
- Shots over the opening 45 minutes were even at 7-7 with shots on goal also even at 3-3.
- Tobolski led the Brewers with three first half shots, putting two on frame.
- Diego Pastor-Valverde (Durham, NC) added a pair of attempts in the first half for the Brewers.
- Raphan kept the Profs off the board with three saves in the opening stanza.
- Johnny Troiano led Rowan with a trio of shots in the opening 45 minutes.
- Dylan Aportela closed the first half with a pair of saves for the Profs.
- Coming out of halftime, Raphan kept Vassar up a goal with three straight saves in the opening five minutes of the half.
- The Brewers maintained the 1-0 lead until the 82nd minute when Tobolski potted his second goal of the game.
- Brandon Liu (Seattle, WA) floated a ball to Tobolski in the box and he tucked a shot inside the left post to give Vassar an insurance tally with just over eight minutes left to play.
- The lead ballooned to 3-0 just under seven minutes later when Tobolski finished off the hat trick in the 89th minute. He broke in free just inside of midfield and closed the scoring at 88:21.
- Rowan outshot Vassar 11-6 in the second half and put seven attempts on frame.
- Second half corner kicks went to the Brewers by a 3-2 count.
- Raphan was busy after halftime, turning aside seven shots to preserve the shutout.
For The Brewers
- Tobolski did all the scoring for the Brewers on Saturday and pushed his team lead in goals to 13 and points to 30. Tobolski is the first 30-point player for the Brewers since 1986.
- Torrey picked up his fifth assist of the season on the eventual game winning goal.
- Liu recorded his third assist of the year on Tobolski's second tally of the day.
- Tobolski led the Brewers with six shots in the contest.
- Duncan Keker (Oakland, CA) recorded three attempts, putting one on frame.
- Torrey and Pastor-Valverde each recorded two shots.
- Raphan recorded double-figure saves for the second straight game, turning aside 10 shots against the Profs.
- Raphan earns his sixth shutout of the season and lowers his goals against average to 1.01 while raising his save percentage to .780.
For The Profs
- Jason Barragan led Rowan with five shots, including four shots on goal.
- Troiano added five attempts, putting three shots on frame.
- Jake Homowitz recorded a pair of shots on goal.
- Aportela suffered the loss in goal with three saves.
Game Statistics
- Rowan outshot Vassar 18-13 overall in the game, including 10-6 in shots on goal.
- Corner kicks in the contest were even at 5-5.
- Fouls were whistled against the Profs 10-7.
What's Next
- Vassar will take on #3 Middlebury Sunday afternoon with a trip to the Third Round on the line. Kick-off from South Street Field in Middlebury, VT is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
