Men's Soccer | 11/3/2011 3:02:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT men's soccer team (11-6-2) will host Vassar College (10-5-3) in the 2011 Liberty League Men's Soccer Championship on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. on RIT Field. The winner on Saturday earns the automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III Tournament, which begins on Nov. 10.

The Tigers, seeded third, advanced to the championship game with a 2-0 win over No. 9 Hobart College on Tuesday. RIT scored two second half goals to advance to the title game in the Tigers first year in the Liberty League. After a scoreless first half, Jimmy Forbes (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead on his third goal of the season. Dan Holowaty (Strongsville, OH/St. Ignatius) put the game away on his seventh tally of the year in the 77th minute, and junior Ben Frazier (Westminster, MD/Westminster) got the start, making four saves earning his first shut out win of the season to help the Tigers advance.

Vassar College made it to the title game after a scoreless tie at top-ranked St. Lawrence, advancing on penalty kicks, 3-1 on Wednesday. Junior Gary Clauss made two diving saves on the Saint's first two attempts to put Vassar in the lead, 1-0 after senior Sam Erlichson-McCarthy scored on the first penalty kick. Senior Ross Macklin connected on Vassar's third attempt and Alex Laird matched his effort to bring St. Lawrence within a tally at 2-1 after three rounds. Junior captain Zande Mrlik struck Vassar's third point for a 3-1 Vassar lead. St. Lawrence blasted their attempt wide sending the Brewers to the title game.

RIT comes into Saturday averaging 1.37 goals per game, which is fifth in the Liberty League. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 26-14 on the season and had a program record 752 consecutive minute scoreless streak earlier in the season. The Tigers are 2-3-0 in their last five games. The shut-out by the Tigers defense on Tuesday was the 11th of the season for RIT.

Holowaty leads the team in scoring with 18 points on seven goals and four assists. He is tied for seventh in the conference in points with 18, and is ninth in the league averaging 0.94 points per game. His seven goals are sixth in the Liberty League. Darryl Anderson (San Diego, CA/Southwest) and Danny Bloshkin (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) are tied for second on the team in scoring with 11 points apiece. Anderson has five goals to go along with one assist, while Bloshkin has a pair of goals to go along with a team-high seven assists.

Defensively, RIT allows just 0.75 goals per game, good for fifth in the conference. Sophomore Sean Conway (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) has played the majority of the minutes in net, posting a 10-6-2 record. He is second in the conference with nine shut-outs and tied for third in the league with 64 saves. Conway has a .821 save percentage and a 0.76 goals against average which is fifth in the league.

Vassar comes into Saturday's final averaging 2.44 goals per game and, are outscoring their opponents, 38-15. The Brewers are third in the Liberty League averaging 2.44 goals per game and are 4-1-1 in their last five games.

Ross Macklin leads the team in scoring and is tied for fifth in the league in scoring with 21 points on seven goals and seven assists. He is seventh in the league averaging 1.18 points per game and sixth in goals (7). Juliano Pereira is second on the team in scoring with 18 points on eight goals and two assists. He leads the Brewers with eight goals and is eighth in the conference averaging 1.12 points per game. Sam Erlichson-McCarthy and Sam Weichert are tied for third on the team in scoring with 10 points apiece. They each have four goals and two assists on the season.

Defensively, Vassar allows 0.87 goals per game and have eight shut outs on the season, including a 0-0 tie versus No. 1 St. Lawrence in the Liberty League semis. Ryan Grimme has seen the majority of the action in net for the Brewers posting a 5-4-3 record this season. The sophomore netminder is tied for third in the conference with six shut outs and is eight in the league with a 0.95 goals against average.

Saturday will only be the second meeting all-time between the two schools. The two teams met back on Oct. 14 with RIT pulling out the 2-0 win. Darryl Anderson (San Diego, CA/Southwest) scored both RIT goals the first coming on an assist from James Whelan (Moriches, NY/Moriches) and the second on an assist from Bloshkin.