The Rensselaer men’s soccer team had a disappointing start to their UCAA conference schedule as they fell to Hobart College 5-2 on Friday and lost 3-2 in a thriller to Hamilton College on Saturday.
In the weekend’s opener Hobart jumped on the Red Hawks early and never looked back. Hobart’s Juan Vargas and Micke Subotowicz each scored a goal in the first half to catapult the Statesmen to the early 2-0 lead.
Hobart quickly added another to start the second half before Rensselaer’s Craig DiDomenico scored an unassisted goal to finally get RPI on the board.
However, the night certainly belonged to Hobart, and particularly Micke Subotowicz, who added two more goals late to give him a total of three on the night.
Tim Fisher scored his first goal of the season off an assist from DiDomenico to round out the scoring for RPI.
“Hobart and Hamilton are two of the better teams in the league,” said Rensselaer men’s soccer Coach Adam Clinton.
“Hobart plays a similar style to us and they are always difficult to get behind.”
The Rensselaer defense was under constant pressure throughout the game as Hobart had 19 shots nine of which got to or past goalie Greg Goehle, who had four saves on the night.
“We are young in goal,” Clinton said. “But Greg is showing steady improvement.” Clinton emphasized Hobart’s offense explosion is by no means solely the responsibility of the goaltender.
“We are leaving too many holes open in the middle of the field,” Clinton added. “We are letting the other team put too much pressure on our back four and our goaltender.”
On Saturday the Red Hawks showed a great deal of resilience as they rebounded well against Hamilton, the sixth-ranked team in the state. Despite going into halftime down 1-0 the Red Hawks came out of the half fired up.
Just three minutes into the second half DiDomenico scored off a pass from Chris Bohren evening the score at 1-1.
Bob Barrowman scored shortly after to grab the lead back for Hamilton.
Yet, the Red Hawks seemed determined and put constant pressure on the Hamilton defense.
With just over ten minutes left in regulation time (77:29) Scott Owens fed Kris Zanotto who delivered the game-tying goal.
However, the excitement was short lived for Rensselaer as Hamilton’s John Porges put the Continentals up for good.
Rensselaer out shot Hamilton and put more shots on goal but still were unable to come away with the victory. “I have been happy with the goal scoring all season,” said Clinton. “I would be extremely happy with more than two goals a game.”
DiDomenico has been particularly solid on offense with a team leading five goals on the season.
“Craig has played great offensively for us,” said Clinton. “Chris Bohern and Nick Tsafos have been solid as well.”
Clinton is currently more concerned with his defense than with his offense, and after giving up a total of eight goals in two weekend games his concerns seem to be justified.
“Defense wins championships,” said Clinton. “We are very athletic but not the most skilled team. We play a possession style four-four so we have to stay organized and under control.”
The losses dropped Rensselaer to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play, and unfortunately the Red Hawks’ schedule will not get any easier.
The Red Hawks’ remaining out-of-conference schedule will certainly be anything but a cakewalk as they face Plattsburg State and St. John Fisher, the number two and eight ranked teams in the state.
“After October 6 there are no easy games,” said Clinton. “I want to get us the most prepared for conference play that is possible. We need to improve and playing against the strongest competition is the best way to prepare us for what we will face in conference action.”
In UCAA play Rensselaer still must face St. Lawrence, the number one ranked team in the state and third ranked team in the country, and Vassar the 10th ranked team in the state.
“The UCAA is tight,” said Clinton. “It is, top to bottom, the best overall conference in the state. St. Lawrence is top dog but there is no easy game anywhere in the league,” said Clinton.
Youth could be another potential issue facing the Red Hawks. Captains Behrens (senior), Taylor Benjamin (senior), and Joe Johnson (sophomore) will try to lead a team composed of mainly sophomores and freshmen through Rensselaer’s grueling calendar.
“Youth could cause us some setbacks,” admitted Clinton. “Mental mistakes could hurt us, especially in those closely competitive conference match-ups.”
Despite the early conference losses, the team’s youth, and the lingering difficult games, Clinton is hopeful the Red Hawks will make the playoffs.
“I’m causally optimistic about our playoff chances,” said Clinton. “Last year we missed the playoffs and one of our preseason goals was to make the playoffs this year.”
Only the top four teams in the UCAA make the playoffs and by losing their first two conference games the Red Hawks have a considerable hole to climb out of.
“All we can do is play hard and hope the ball will bounce our way.” Clinton said.
Rensselaer will play at Elmira College on Saturday before returning home to face a very talented Plattsburg State team on October 6.
