Men's Soccer | 11/4/2014 1:30:00 PM
TROY, N.Y. – The 20th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team has qualified for the 2014 Liberty League Tournament as the second seed and will host third seed Vassar College on Wednesday night at East Campus Stadium (7pm). Top seed and 11th-ranked St. Lawrence University hosts fourth seed Hobart College (1:30pm).
There is no charge to attend Wednesday night's game. RPI TV, a student-run club based out the Student Union, will provide live coverage, which can be seen at www.rpitv.org.
Led by 13th-year head coach
Adam Clinton, the Engineers are 11-3-3 overall, including a 6-1-1 mark in Liberty League play. Rensselaer has out-scored the opposition 27-8 so far this season and is allowing the fewest goals per game (0.47) in the conference. RPI opened the season with a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) and is 4-1-1 in its last six games.
Individually, the Engineers are paced by senior captain
Matt Koziol (Poughkeepsie, NY/Franklin D. Roosevelt), who has a team-high 15 points on six goals and three assists – all career-highs. Junior
Matt Carberry (Auburn, NY/Auburn) is second with 12 points on five goals and two assists. Three players, including sophomore
Vito Mesiti (Slingerlands, NY/Guilderland) have eight points apiece.
In goal, senior captain
Rob Dewald (Arlington, VA/Washington-Lee) is 9-3-2 with a 0.57 goals against average and an .843 save percentage in 15 games (14 starts). Sophomore
Alex Kessler (Delmar, NY/Delmar) is 2-0-1, having stopped all 12 shots he has faced in six games (2 starts).
Vassar comes into Wednesday's game with a 12-5-2 overall record, including a 5-2-1 league mark. The Brewers have won two straight and are led offensively by junior Gavin Jennings (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington), who has a goal and nine assists for 11 points. Classmate Jordan Palmer (Woodland Hills, CA/Agoura) is second with nine points on three goals and three assists. Sophomore keeper Adam Warner (Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly) has a 9-5-2 record in 16 games (all starts), with a 1.12 goals against average and a .746 save percentage.
RPI won the previous meeting this season, 2-0, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on October 25. Mesiti and Koziol scored less than two minutes apart in the second half to secure the victory, as the Engineers out-shot the Brewers, 14-13. Dewald finished with one save, while Warner had three for the hosts.
The winner of Wednesday night's game will play the winner of the other semifinal between St. Lawrence and Hobart on Saturday (TBD). The Liberty League Champion will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
