BOX SCORE
TROY, N.Y. – The Union College Men's Soccer Team gutted out a 0-0 double-overtime draw against area and conference-rival Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on a cold night at Renwyck Field. The Engineers are now 4-3-3 overall with an 0-2-2 mark in the Liberty League, while the Dutchmen move to 9-1-1 and 0-1-1 in conference play.
It was a physical game from the start with RPI taking the first crack at the scoreboard. Sophomore defender Ryan Gracy had the Engineers best opportunity in the first half as he nearly headed in the ball just 41 seconds into the contest.
From there Union took over the momentum and held the majority of possession through the opening 20 minutes. Junior Sebastiaan Jansen nearly put the Dutchmen up in the sixth minute after he beat a defender down the right flank. Attempting to center the ball, Jansen was beaten by a timely tackle from Gracy to push the ball out of play.
Union's best chance of the stanza came in the 23rd minute as senior Kevan Benn headed the ball near the left post off a free kick, but his attempt banked off the crossbar and out of play.
RPI began to come alive following the close call by Benn. A corner by Mignon on the left side was nearly put in by Koziul, but he was blocked in front by a Union defender. Back-to-back corners again in the 34th minute nearly saw the Engineers get on the scoreboard, but solid blocking in front by the Dutchmen prevented RPI from getting the touch on the ball that they needed to score.
The second half of action proved to be just as physical with solid chances for both teams to break the tie. Senior Marc Zeyak had a great opportunity off a cross from Jansen in the 50th minute, but could not convert due to pressure from the Engineers defense.
Zeyak had one of Union's best opportunities of the game just minutes later after he broke through the RPI defense on a breakaway, but his shot curved and went wide left to keep the score 0-0 with 30 minutes left to play.
With just under five minutes to play, the Engineers had their best chance of the game slip past them as Union senior goalkeeper Mike Szczesniak recovered from his own mistake for a heads-up save. Coming out to corral a loose ball in the left corner, Szczesniak faced quick pressure from the RPI defense and bobbled the ball out to the foot of RPI junior Adam Updegrove.
Updegrove turned and fired a quick pass to rookie Matt Koziol in the middle, but Szcesniak was able to recover and rushed up to save Koziol's kick toward the empty net.
The Engineers rode the momentum into the overtime sessions, but neither them nor the Dutchmen were able to get the go-ahead goal as the horn sounded on the second and final overtime session.
In goal for RPI, sophomore Craig Bennett earned the tie as he played the first 11:35 before exiting the game following a hard collision. Dewald played the final 98:25. For the Dutchmen, senior Adam Margulies played the first 32:52 before giving way to Szczesniak, who made two saves.
The Dutchmen return home to host Bard on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. It will be their second of seven conference games Union will be playing in the next three weeks.
