Liberty League Championship Page

TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team plays in the Liberty League Championship Game on Saturday at St. Lawrence University (SLU) for the right to an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The game between the top two seeds, both of which are nationally-ranked, takes place at Sandy Macallaster Field in Canton beginning at 1pm.

The Engineers, who are ranked 20th in the latest Division III men's soccer coaches poll, are 12-3-3 (6-1-1 Liberty League) and coming off a 3-1 win over Vassar College in the league semifinals. In Wednesday's victory over the Brewers, which took place at RPI's East Campus Stadium, Rensselaer scored three second half goals to build a 3-0 lead. Junior forward Nathaniel Gunderson (Olympia, WA / Tumwater) scored twice and the team's leading scorer, senior midfielder Matt Koziol (Poughkeepsie, NY / Franklin D. Roosevelt), tallied once for RPI, which allowed a goal with under a minute remaining in the contest. Senior Rob Dewald (Arlington, VA / Washington-Lee) finished with two saves.

St. Lawrence, the 11th-ranked team in the nation, defeated Hobart College, 1-0, in double overtime at home on Wednesday. Sophomore midfielder Rob Brandell (Glen Ridge, NJ / Glen Ridge) tallied in the 106th minute to help the Saints improve to 15-2-1 (7-0-1). Among their victories was a 2-0 win over Rensselaer on October 4 in Troy in which Harry Copeland (Dedham, MA / St. Marks) and Austin Roney (Fayetteville, NY / Jamesville-DeWitt) scored after halftime and Sean Houston (Williamstown, MA / Mt. Greylock Regional) had six saves. The Engineers made a late charge in that game, but could not break through on the scoreboard.

In addition to leading the team in points with 17, Koziol is also first in goals with seven and assists with three. He has a team-best 46 shots, including 24 on goal, with three game-winning tallies. Gunderson and classmate Matt Carberry (Auburn, NY / Auburn) are tied for second in goals (5 each) and points (12 each). Gunderson has 39 shots, including 20 on goal, while Carberry has 22 shots, nine on frame.

As a team, the Engineers average 1.67 goals on 11.6 shots per contest. They allow just 0.50 goals and 11.8 shots per contest. Dewald is 10-3-2 with a 0.60 goals against average and .833 save percentage in 16 games. He has five of the team's seven shutouts. Alex Kessler (Delmar, NY / Bethlehem), a sophomore, has the other two clean sheets. He is 2-0-1 with a 0.00 goals against and a 1.000 save percentage on 12 shots faced.

Saturday's game against St. Lawrence, which averages 2.11 goals for and 0.83 goals against, can be followed live via video by clicking HERE and live statistics by clicking HERE.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, November 10 at 1:30pm and can be seen by clicking HERE.