October 17
Tomorrow we take on RPI, one of our biggest rivals in the Liberty League. RPI is our “travel partner,” meaning it is the closest team to us geographically and we face off against the same Liberty League teams each weekend. Because of this, tomorrow’s game will be our only league contest this weekend. Although the RPI Red Hawks lost this week to Keene State, they have been on an impressive run of only 5 losses in 23 contests that dates back to last October when they defeated us 3-0 at their home field.
That win avenged a great Vassar performance from my sophomore year, where we erased a one-goal halftime deficit to storm back and take an emphatic 3-1 victory. While RPI did not make the Liberty League playoffs last year, they did manage to earn an ECAC birth and were the shock victors of the tournament. Playing as the eighth and final seed, RPI shut out top seed Oneonta State and 4th-seeded St. John Fischer before grabbing a 2-1 victory over Liberty League rival Union in the championship game. This would have been an even bigger surprise if RPI had not done the same thing in 2005 (my freshman season), rallying from the lowest seed in the ECAC playoffs to win the title. This season, RPI has finally translated this playoff form into Liberty League success and has become one of the dominant teams in the region. They are a perfect 4-0-0 in the league with no goals allowed, and will definitely present one of our toughest tests of the season. Goalkeeper Alex Penny has already been selected as Liberty League Defensive Player of the Week three times, and the fact that no one on their team has more than four goals is a testament to their depth (an amazing seventeen different RPI players have scored a goal so far this season).
Everyone who has not yet left for October break should come out to Prentiss Field at 2 PM for what should be an exciting match-up.
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