RPI hosted Vassar on October 31 in a game that would determine who would get out of the UCAA basement. The Red Hawks and Brewers played a highly defensive match for the first 45 minutes, battling to a scoreless tie at the halfway mark.

The offenses came to life quickly in the second half, with RPI drawing first blood. Three and a half minutes in, sophomore Chris Bohren took a throw-in and booted a 30-yard goal to give the Red Hawks a 1-0 lead.

Vassar struck back in a hurry by taking advantage of an RPI miscue: The Red Hawks committed a handball right in front of their own goal, resulting in a penalty shot for the Brewers. The kick from Ryan Phillips just squeaked under a diving Kenny Guzzardo, tying the game at one.

The game-winning goal came only three minutes later from Midfielder Brad Irwin, who converted on an RPI corner kick. Bohren added an insurance goal with 20 minutes remaining, putting away a rebound from a booming shot by Mike Greco to give the Red Hawks a 3-1 victory.

The big story in Saturday’s game against NYU was the defense, as the Violets had a limited number of scoring opportunities. Marc Salmin did a good job of securing the RPI net, making seven saves as the Red Hawks shut out the Violets, 1-0.

Rensselaer’s only score came off of a free kick taken by Bohren roughly midway through the first half. His low 25-yard shot just cleared the inside of the post, and the Red Hawks made that slim margin stand up for over 70 minutes to close out the season with a win.