Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's 4-2 penalty kick victory provided  the Engineers a dramatic victory over the Vassar College men's soccer team in an exhilarating Liberty League Championship game at Gordon Field on Saturday afternoon.

Despite several strong penalty kicks from the Brewers, a clutch diving save from Engineers keeper Rob Dewald and a strong finish from Engineers defender Jared Doolan edged RPI past Vassar and earned them the Liberty League title in a hard fought, evenly played game befitting a championship game.

With the victory RPI (9-5-6) earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Vassar (12-4-3) will learn whether it earns a second straight bid to the NCAA Championships on Monday.

The stands were packed with cheering fans despite the heavy winds and cold weather, and both teams rewarded  fans with skillful and aggressive play, tallying six shots a piece in a competitive first half.

The Engineers broke into the scoring column first, in the 31st minute off of a free kick by midfielder Matt Koziol from 30 yards out. The ball bounced around in the box before finding the foot of defender Michael Birk, who struck a low shot from eight yards to put the Engineers up 1-0.

The Brewers had a chance of their own just three minutes later when sophomore midfielder Justin Mitchell carried the ball to the edge of the box and struck a hard shot from 18 yards out, forcing the save from Dewald.

RPI narrowly missed doubling its lead in the 39th minute when Koziol found space at the edge of the box and sent a hard shot towards the upper left corner of the net, forcing the diving save from Brewers goalkeeper Ryan Grimme.

The Brewers narrowly missed finding the equalizer in the 67th minute, when the RPI defense deflected the ball to Mitchell, who controlled the bouncing ball well to send a hard, low shot towards the bottom right corner of the net, forcing a diving save from Dewald.

The Brewers finally found a breakthrough in the 79th minute, when sophomore forward Tom Weichert sent a long through ball to freshman midfielder Jordan Palmer, whose well-timed run found him behind the defense with enough time to tap home the equalizer from six yards out, sending the game into overtime.

RPI's best chance of the overtime period came in the 102nd minute, when forward Alex Dotseth carried the ball into the box and hit the ball towards the top of the net, forcing the save from Grimme.

Vassar's best chance came with less than a minute left in overtime, when Mitchell received a long pass at the far right side of the box, took a step, and hit an open shot that was blocked by the RPI defense. However neither team could break the deadlock and the game was forced into penalty kicks.

Grimme had seven saves for Vassar, while Dewald had five saves.

Named to the Liberty League All-Tournament Team

From RPI:
Sophomore Goalkeeper Rob Dewald
Junior Defender Jared Doolan
Senior Defender Michael Birk
Sophomore Midfielder and MVP Matt Koziol

From Vassar College:
Senior Defender Zander Mrlik
Sophomore Forward Tom Weichert
Junior Defender Evan Seltzer

From Union College:
Junior Forward Sahr Nyuma
Senior Forward Sebastiaan Jansen

From St. Lawrence University
Senior Defender Alex Laird
Freshman Midfielder Ryan Grant