Men's Soccer | 11/1/2011 5:14:00 PM

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GENEVA, NY -- In a rematch of the regular season finale just three days ago, the RIT (11-6-2) men's soccer team shut out No. 9 Hobart (16-3-0) 2-0 in the Liberty League Semifinals on a sunny Tuesday afternoon at Cozzens Field. The Tigers scored two second half goals to advance to the conference championship game which will take place on Saturday, Nov. 5 versus the winner between St. Lawrence and Vassar.

Jimmy Forbes (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) and Dan Holowaty (Strongsville, OH/St. Ignatius) each scored to help RIT advance to the conference championship in its first year in the Liberty League.

Ben Frazier (Westminster, MD/Westminster) started his first game of the year and got the win for RIT making four saves to earn the shutout, RIT's 11th of the season.

After a scoreless first half, RIT got on the board first on Forbes' third goal of the season. Off a corner kick, Danny Bloshkin (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) sent an in-swinging ball into the Hobart box that senior Darryl Anderson (San Diego, CA/Southwest) headed just before the ball went out of bounds. The ball came out to Forbes who had pinched up from his defensive position, and he fired a shot that beat Hobart keeper Charlie Hale to the right side.

After withstanding a push by the Statesmen, Holowaty got behind the Hobart defense and fired a shot into the lower right corner giving RIT a 2-0 lead in the 77th minute. Holowaty got free when a Hobart defenseman misplayed a ball. Holowaty controlled the ball, gathered it to his right foot and fired a shot that found the back of the net. it was his team-leading seventh tally of the season.

Hobart made a big push inside the last 10 minutes of regulation, but the RIT defense held stout. Junior Ryan Giust (Chesterland, OH/Hawken School) saved a ball off the line, heading it out of play with 40 seconds to play. 

With 20 seconds remaining, Hobart's Tony Yeboah fired a shot from eight yards out that Frazier made the diving save on preserving the shutout win for the Tigers, their 11th of the season.

RIT was the more aggressive team in the second half, outshooting the Statesmen 9-6. Overall, Hobart held a slight edge in shots 14-12. Hobart took six corner kicks to two for the Tigers.

The winner of Saturday's championship game will earn the automatic berth in the NCAA Div. III Tournament. If St. Lawrence wins, RIT will travel to Canton, New York for the title game. If Vassar upsets the top-ranked Saints, RIT will host the Brewers in the title game on Nov. 5.