Men's Soccer | 11/8/2019 11:05:00 AM
TROY, N.Y. – The No. 12/15 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team will play host to the 2019 Liberty League Championship this weekend at East Campus Stadium. The Engineers are the top seed and will kick-off semifinal action on Saturday afternoon against fourth seed Clarkson (4pm), followed by second seed Hobart taking on sixth seed RIT (6:30pm). The winners of each contest will square off in the championship game on Sunday (3:30pm).
Rensselaer enters the weekend with a 14-2-2 overall record, going 6-1-2 in Liberty League play. Matching a school record for wins a season, the Engineers are averaging 2.17 goals per game, while allowing 0.89. They are outshooting the opposition, 254-196, and are scoring on nearly twice as many attempts (15.4% to 8.2%). RPI has posted five clean sheets, including three in conference play, surrendering seven goals in nine league matches.
Individually, freshman winger
Josh Gaudiano has set school records for single-season goals (15) and points (35), with five assists, a team-high 63 shots (36 on goal), five game-winning tallies and four penalty kicks in four tries. Three others have 11 points, including senior
Austin Betterly (3 goals, 5 assists), junior
Trevor Bisson (5 goals, 1 assist) and freshman
Arik Duncan (4 goals, 3 assists).
In goal, sophomore
Luke Brezak is 9-0-2 with a 0.63 goals against average and an .833 save percentage in 11 starts, while senior captain
Matt LaBranche is 5-2-0 with a 1.08 goals against average and a .795 save percentage.
Hobart locked up the second seed in the tournament, posting a 13-4-1 overall mark and a 6-2-1 record in conference play. Averaging 1.78 goals per game, the Statesmen are allowing 0.67 and have earned 91 corner kicks to 79 for the opposition.
Senior Nate Cary paces Hobart with six goals and three assists for 15 points. Kyle Mangold is right behind him with four goals and one assist for nine points, while Juan Widoycovich rounds out the top three with four goals for eight points. Brian Salazar (13-4-1) has a 0.67 goals against average and an .870 save percentage as the starter in all 18 games in goal.
The Golden Knights, who are 11-4-3 overall (5-1-3 Liberty League), defeated fifth seed Ithaca, 1-0, on Tuesday to advance to Saturday's semifinal against the Engineers. They allow just 0.78 goals per game, which ranks third among Liberty League teams.
Junior midfielder Mack Walton leads Clarkson with four goals and three assists for 11 points. Erick Naula (3 goals) and Kyle Jackson (3 goals) have six points apiece, while Stephen Klimek (2 goals, 1 assist) and Matt Adamou (2 goals, 1 assist) have five points each. Ian Roeloffs (9-4-3) has a 0.88 goals against average and an .821 percentage with three shutouts.
RIT enters the weekend with a 6-9-2 record, going 4-5-0 in the Liberty League. The Tigers upset third seed Vassar on penalty kicks (4-3), after the game was tied, 1-1, through overtime on Tuesday. Tied with Hobart for the most goals in conference play with 18, the Tigers surrendered the third most (14), behind only Bard (31) and Union (16).
Senior Sam Garno leads the club with seven goals and seven assists for 21 points, while Nick Simone (6 goals, 7 assists) is right behind him with 19. Jared Short (7 goals) rounds out the top three scorers with 14 points. RIT has seen two goalkeepers see considerable time this season, with sophomore Spencer Raymond-Smith (4-2-1) posting a 0.89 goals against average and a .781 save percentage in nine games (6 starts). Junior Will Sokol (2-4-1) has a 2.39 goals against average and a .633 save percentage in nine games (all starts).
Hobart owns two Liberty League championships (2017 & 2009), while the Engineers have one (2012). Clarkson and RIT are in search of their first. Nine-time champion St. Lawrence missed out the postseason for the first time since 2009 – the last time Rensselaer hosted the event.
All three games will be streamed live on RPI TV and can be seen at www.rpitv.org or on YouTube.
