Following Saturday’s 1-0 win over the Vassar College Brewers, the RPI men’s soccer team will have a huge opportunity this weekend: the chance to play for the Liberty League regular season title and the right to host the league’s tournament on its home turf.
The win over Vassar leaves the Red Hawks—who have clinched a berth in the league’s tournament—at a perfect 5-0-0 in league play (12-3-1 overall) and standing alone at the top of the Liberty League standings with just two league matches remaining. On Saturday at 3 pm, RPI will look to clinch first place in the Liberty League by attempting to do something that no other team has been able to this season—defeat the Hobart College Statesmen.
Hobart, ranked fourth in the nation, is undefeated at 13-0-2 overall, and trails just behind the Red Hawks at 4-0-1 in the Liberty League. Last season, RPI and Hobart were tied at one going into the half, but the Statesmen scored two goals in the second half for a 3-1 victory.
Head Coach Adam Clinton describes Hobart as “always extremely good at getting forward.” He also noted that, as a result, “We will most likely get some of our own chances.”
This season, the Statesmen are led in scoring by senior Dan Riso, whose seven goals and three assists are good for a league-leading 17 points. Riso scored Hobart’s final goal against RPI a year ago. Clinton also pointed out that Hobart has an excellent goalkeeper; senior Pete Van Dellon leads the Liberty League with a 0.52 goals against average.
While Hobart is unbeaten on the year, RPI has a few streaks of its own that are in its favor. The Red Hawks have not allowed a goal to a Liberty League opponent, are undefeated at 4-0-1 on Renwyck Field this year, and have not allowed a goal at home since the 19th minute of their first game of the season.
“We definitely have a little bit of a home field advantage this year,” said Clinton. “We’d love a huge crowd on Saturday.” On the game itself, Clinton said, “We feel like we can compete with them, but it will be a difficult game on Saturday.”
On Sunday at 1 pm, the Red Hawks will host the Hamilton College Continentals in the final regular season Liberty League matchup for both squads. Last year, the Red Hawks came back twice from down one goal at Hamilton, with junior Jabel Prom scoring both RPI goals in the contest, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. The Continentals are currently fifth place at 2-3-0 in the league (7-4-0 overall), and will be fighting for a berth in the league’s tournament this weekend.
Should RPI tie Hobart on Saturday, it will still be able to clinch first place in the league with a win over the Continentals. If the Red Hawks lose to Hobart, they would need some help from Vassar, which plays Hobart on Sunday.
Overall, the Red Hawks went 1-1-0 last week. They fell by a 3-2 score to the Keene State Owls on the road, but got the victory in the critical game at Vassar. RPI twice was unable to hold a one-goal lead at Keene State, and the Owls scored on a penalty kick in the 85th minute for the win. RPI was able to rebound on Saturday, with a Brewer own goal in the 28th minute providing the lone score of the day in the 1-0 victory.
“We were thrilled to win on Saturday,” noted Clinton. However, he also noted that the team was disappointed with the loss to Keene State. “We really felt like we let one get away,” said Clinton of the loss to the Owls.
Clinton said that both the Red Hawks and the Brewers came out flat in the first half of Saturday’s game. The own goal gave the Red Hawks a halftime lead though. “We missed a number of chances in the first 25 minutes of the second half,” noted Clinton. Still, RPI was able to hold the one-goal lead for the victory.
That win set up Saturday’s big game here in Troy on Renwyck Field. While the Red Hawks have already qualified for the Liberty League tournament, the home field advantage that would come with defeating Hobart would certainly be a huge help in the postseason.
