Beautiful weather, a raucous crowd, and the presence of hated rival Union proved not to be enough to invigorate the Rensselaer men’s soccer team in their first weekend of Liberty League play. The Red Hawks came out lifeless at Harkness Field in a 1-0 loss Friday night to the abhorred Dutchmen and barely managed to tie Skidmore 2-2 in Saturday’s contest on the turf.
“We were flat,” Rensselaer Head Coach Adam Clinton said of his team’s performance against Union. “One of our goals every game is to come out and exceed or at least match the other team’s intensity. We failed to do that Friday.”
The Red Hawks were dead in the first half, allowing Union to outshoot them 9-4, and dictate the flow of the game.
RPI was fortunate to escape to halftime tied 0-0 after Union midfielder Hugo Fernandez-Davila simply sprinted past the Rensselaer defense, and found himself one-on-one with RPI junior goaltender Nick Bochette. Bochette, who made four saves in the game, frantically closed on Fernandez-Davila and forced him to clang his shot off the post.
At the half, Clinton, who admits he often has trouble gauging the emotion of his low-key players, attempted to elevate his team’s energy by asking how many of them felt like they had been pushed, kicked, or knocked around.
“Basically everyone raised their hand,” Clinton said, who then asked his players if they had pushed or knocked around any Union players. Clinton got only one or two hands.
“They were being more physical and we had to find a way to match that,” Clinton stated.
In the second half the Red Hawks got more physical, but still came up on the short of end of the stick after one costly defensive breakdown and a spectacular save by Union’s freshman goaltender Rob Kramer.
With just over 20 minutes remaining in the game, Union’s Casey Ftorek snuck behind the Rensselaer defense and ran down the ball. Ftorek, with the RPI defenders out of position, cradled the ball just outside the left side of the box, cut back across the middle of the field, crossed up Bochette and fired it past the helpless RPI goaltender.
Rensselaer did battle in the game’s waning minutes, but all efforts proved futile against Kramer. Luck was also with Union’s rookie keeper, who left his feet and barely managed to deflect RPI freshman forward Mike Henzel’s header over the top of the net.
“He had everything timed perfectly,” Clinton, who is in his fourth year as head coach, said of Kramer, who finished with four saves. “If that ball is six inches higher, or to the left or right he doesn’t make that save. It was just a fantastic play on his part.”
The Skidmore game saw much of the same for Rensselaer. Crucial defensive miscues allowed the Thoroughbreds to take an early 1-0 lead after Mark Melly scored an unassisted goal just over 30 minutes into the game, leaving the Red Hawks reeling.
RPI, which had numerous scoring chances early in the first half but failed to convert, was noticeably flustered, especially after team captain Joe Johnson got into a heated exchange with the head official.
But the Red Hawks and RPI’s senior defenseman would respond, and vent their frustration against the Thoroughbreds. Johnson, with under a minute left in the first half, evened the score at 1-1 by firing a shot into a the upper right corner of the net off sophomore forward Sal Mangano’s corner kick despite being pulled down by a Skidmore defender.
“We dominated the first half,” Clinton said. “We just couldn’t score. It would have been easy to just give up.”
In the second half the Red Hawks refused to give up, led by the efforts of their senior captain.
Later in the second half, with RPI again trailing 2-1 after Skidmore’s Ben Shriner scored off a pass from Pat Phelan just over 15 minutes into the second half, Johnson would deliver yet again.
With just under 15 minutes remaining in the game, Johnson again answered. The Hopewell Junction, N.Y., native took a cross pass in traffic, maneuvered his way from left to right across the box and fired a bullet which completely crossed-up Skidmore goaltender Jake Densen.
“You can’t say enough good things about Joe Johnson,” Clinton said. “The performance he put up on Saturday is exactly why he was RPI’s Athlete of the Year last year.”
Clinton was not surprised by Johnson’s heroics. The four-year starter scored just two goals last year, but both came in the season finale in a must-win game against Vassar. RPI won 2-1 and qualified for the 2004 Liberty League playoffs.
“He is always clutch for us,” Clinton said. “We are lucky to have him. He makes my job and the jobs of his teammates a lot easier.”
Johnson’s timely goals salvaged Rensselaer’s only weekend of league home games. The Red Hawks’ tie with Skidmore earned them one point in the conference standings, placing them seventh overall.
RPI will play an excellent Plattsburgh State team today at 7 pm under the lights at Harkness Field. The Plattsburgh match precedes a three-game road trip for Rensselaer, all against league opponents. The Red Hawks will face travel partner and current Liberty League basement dweller, Vassar, Saturday, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
“This is going to be a playoff game in early October,” Clinton said. “We have to approach it that way if we are going to get the 10 to 12 points we need to make the [Liberty League] playoffs.”
