Poughkeepsie, NY – After playing 110:00 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Vassar College Men's Soccer team converted four of its penalty kicks to win the 2024 Liberty League Championship over St. Lawrence Sunday afternoon.
Jacob Raphan (Oceanside, NY) earned the shutout with a career-high 10 saves and senior
Duncan Keker (Oakland, CA) was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player.
With Sunday's draw, Vassar moves to 12-3-3 and gives the Brewers their third Liberty League title. The Brewers will make their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last three seasons and their sixth all-time.
How It Happened
- Both goalies on Sunday were under siege with Raphan totaling 10 saves with St. Lawerence keeper, George Charlambous, turning aside 11 shots.
- Raphan made four stops over the opening 45 minutes to keep the Saints off the board.
- Charlambous made two saves over the course of the first half.
- Vassar held 9-5 advantage in shots in the first half.
- Corner kicks in the first frame went to the Brewers by a 7-2 margin.
- Vassar turned up the pressure in the second half, totaling 20 shots.
- Charlambous made six saves in the second half, with multiple saves coming from in tight.
- The St. Lawrence defense also supported its keeper with three team saves.
- Raphan made back-to-back saves in the 78th minute, stopping an initial shot and then shutting down the rebound to keep the game scoreless late.
- Raphan finished the second half with four stops.
- The two teams combined nine shots in the two overtime periods, with Charlambous making two saves in the first extra period and a single stop in the second frame.
- Raphan stopped one St. Lawrence attempt in each overtime session to end the game scoreless.
Shootout
- Vassar made its first four shootout attempts with Keker, Jared Fiske (Livingston, NJ), Arden Tobolski (Chapel Hill, NC) and Otis Wildman converting.
- After St. Lawernce made its first two attempts, Raphan stuffed the third try to give the Brewers the advantage.
- Following a miss from the Brewers, St. Lawrence missed the frame on its final attempt to give Vassar the trophy.
For The Brewers
- Raphan reached double-figures in saves for the first time in his career.
- Raphan posted his fifth shutout of the season and lowered his goals against average to 1.07 while raising his save percentage to .750.
- Keker, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after scoring the game winning goal in Friday's semifinal, led the team with eight shots, including three on goal.
- Eli Torrey (Philadelphia, PA) totaled seven shots for the Brewers.
- Mauricio Mejia (Miami, FL) posted four shots, putting three on frame.
- Jackson Hall (Washington, DC) and Fiske each finished with four shots for Vassar.
For The Saints
- Charalambous earned his eighth shutout of the season with 11 big saves for the Saints.
- Sam Pijpers led the team with six shots, putting two on goal.
- Max Mogul finished with five shots and a team-high three shots on goal.
Game Statistics
- Vassar finished the contest with a 34-19 advantage in overall shots and a 14-10 edge in shots on goal.
- Corner kicks went to Vassar by a wide 19-6 margin.
What's Next
- The Brewers will learn their opponent in the NCAA Tournament on Monday.
