Middlebury, VT – Coming off a 3-0 victory over #12 Rowan on Saturday afternoon, the Vassar College Men's Soccer team will tussle with #3 Middlebury on Sunday in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. Live stats and video will be available for those unable to attend the contest.
Tickets: Tickets will go on sale at South Street Field at 12:00 p.m. and will be $6 for adults and $3 for children. Only cash will be accepted.
How We Got Here: Arden Tobolski scored a hat trick, his second career three-goal game, and
Jacob Raphan matched his career-high with 10 saves as Vassar scored at 3-0 win over Rowan in the First Round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The win improved Vassar to 13-3-3 overall on the season and 4-0-1 in its last five games.
Kick-Off: Vassar and Middlebury will meet for the second time ever on Sunday when the two sides meet in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. Kick-off from South Street Field in Middlebury, VT is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Last Meeting With The Panthers: The Panthers and Brewers met for the first time on October 23, 2023 in Poughkeepsie with the game ending in a 2-2 draw. Middlebury held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 with the Brewers answering each goal.
Duncan Keker tied the game at 1-1 in the 59th minute and
Danny Berry knotted the score at 2-2 with just under four minutes left in the second half.
Scouting Middlebury: The Panthers are coming off a 7-0 win over Hunter on Saturday and begin play on Sunday sporting a 15-1-3 overall. Middlebury is 5-1 over its last six game with the lone loss coming in a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Connecticut College in the NESCAC Championship Game on November 10.
The Panthers feature eight players with at least 10 points on the season led by eight goals and 18 points from Keagan Harder. Colin Dugan and Gavin Randolph have each scored six times and assisted on three goals with Kyle Nilsson and Will Sawin each supplying four goals. Ari Klayman leads the way with seven assists and stands with 13 points on the season. In goal, Joey Waterman has made 18 starts and holds a 0.63 goals against average and an .849 save percentage to go along with 10 clean sheets.
What's At Stake: The winner of Sunday's game will move through to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament. Vassar has appeared in the Second Round four times, but has never advanced to the second weekend of the tournament.
We're Back: Vassar is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history and for the second time in the last three seasons. The Brewers advanced to the Second Round of the 2022 Tournament after getting by Babson on penalty kicks and has now advanced to the second day for the third time in its last four tournament appearances.
Can We Advance Again?: The Brewers have advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on four occasions in program history, but have never appeared on the second weekend. Vassar has been to the Second Round in 1999, 2012, 2022 and now 2024 and has three tournament wins to its credit, topping Cabrini 2-1 in 1999, Tufts 1-0 in 2OT in 2012 and Rowan 3-0 on Saturday afternoon. In their last tournament appearance, the Brewers got by Babson on penalties before bowing out on kicks to Bowdoin.
Not Playing Like A Rookie: First Year
Arden Tobolski enters Sunday's game leading the Brewers in goals (13), game winning goals (4) and points (30). Tobolski was named the Liberty League's Rookie of the Week twice and ranks second in the conference in total goals and total points. Tobolski was named First Team All-Liberty League and the league's Rookie of the Year.
Been A While: With a hat trick on Saturday against Rowan,
Arden Tobolski leads the team with 30 points. Tobsolski is the first 30 points scorer ay Vassar since 1986.
Weekly Honors: Vassar earned 11 Liberty League Weekly Awards throughout the 2024 season.
Arden Tobolski (9/3, 9/16) and
Joshua Lee (9/30, 10-7) each were named Rookie of the Week twice with
Clem Grossman (10/14) adding a Rookie of the Week citation.
Jared Fiske (9/3, 10/7) and
Duncan Keker (11/4, 11/11) garnered two Offensive Performer of the Week Awards apiece and
Jacob Raphan picked up Defensive Player of the Week honors on 9/16 and 11/11.
10 (!) Named All-Conference: Vassar earned a staggering 10 all-conference selections in 2024 highlighted by a First Team selection and Rookie of the Year honors for
Arden Tobolski. First Team selections included:
Duncan Keker, Tobolski,
Brandon Liu and
Jackson Hall. Second Team honors went to
Mauricio Mejia and
Jared Fiske and Third Team accolades were garnered by
Eli Torrey,
Jackson Allen,
Charlie Rodhouse and
Jacob Raphan.
What A Staff: Led by Head Coach Jonathan Hood, Phd., Vassar earned Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year honors it was announced on Tuesday.
Captains, please: Seniors
Duncan Keker and
Charlie Rodhouse serve as the Brewers' captains for the 2024 season.
Nice To Be Home: Vassar played on the friendly confines of Gordon Field 11 times in 2024 and posted an impressive 8-2-1 record. The only home blemishes came back in September and the draw came in a scoreless affair in the Liberty League Championship. Vassar went on to claim the conference crown on penalty kicks.
Road Warriors: The Brewers have also been stellar away from home to date in 2024, posting 4-1-2 record in road contests. Heading into Saturday's first neutral site game of the year, Vassar's lone loss away from home to date came at Ithaca on October 26.
Outstanding!: After scoring the game winning goal against RIT in the Semifinals and leading the team with eight shots in a scoreless draw in the Championship final,
Duncan Keker was named the 2024 Liberty League Championship Most Outstanding Player.
The Hood File: Jonathan Hood, Phd. is in his third season as the bench boss for the Brewers and enters Sunday's tilt with a 30-12-14 overall record ad a 15-4-8 mark against Liberty League rivals. Hood headlined the 2024 Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year and has led the Brewers to the NCAA Tournament in two of his three seasons in Poughkeepsie.
