POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Fresh off winning the 2026 Liberty League Men's Soccer Championship on Sunday, the Vassar College Men's Soccer team learned it will square-off with #14 Messiah for a second time this season in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on the campus of Amherst Saturday, November 14.
Vassar enters the weekend on a four-game winning streak and with an 8-5-6 following a 1-0 win at #7 St. Lawrence in the conference championship final. Zapp Hotz (Ridgefield, NY) scored the game winning goal in the first minute of the second half and Jacob Raphan (Oceanside, NY) made nine saves, matching his season-high, on the way to being named the Championship's Most Outstanding Performer.
Sophomore Alejandro Martinez (Lake Mary, FL) enters the weekend as the team's leader in points with 16 on the strength of six goals and four assists. Mauricio Mejia (Miami, FL) checks in with five goals and 11 points with Hotz standing with 10 points on four goals and a pair of helpers.
Raphan has started 18 contests to date of the Brewers in goal and has recorded six shutouts, including four straight clean sheets. Raphan has turned aside 69 opponent shots and is working to a .784 save percentage and a 1.06 goals against average.
Messiah enters the NCAA Tournament with a 16-2-2 overall record and is coming off a tight 1-0 defeat to Neumann in the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game.
The Messiah offensive attack features four players with at least 20 points, led by Owen Resch who paces the squad with 38 on the strength of 14 goals and 10 assists. Kyle Spodnik checks in with nine goals and six helpers with Sam Phillips totaling seven goals and nine assists. Elijah Perry adds seven goals and six helpers for the Falcons.
In goal, Killian O'Reilly has gotten the nod in all 20 contests and holds a .797 goals against average and a 0.66 goals against average.
In the regular season matchup on September 19, Messiah came away with a 1-0 victory with Phillips finishing off a feed from Spodnik in the 17th minute. Raphan finished the contest with one save with O'Reilly earning the win with two stops.
The winner of Saturday's contest will take on the winner of Amherst and Stevens Sunday afternoon.