POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (July 18, 2017) -- The Vassar College 2016-17 athletic season continued the success of the past few seasons, seeing some of the best performances in VC history. Over the next few weeks, VassarAthletics.com will take a look at some of the top individual performances of the 2016-17 season. This year though, we are going in chronological order of events, as the top 10 will be revealed in the order that they happened, not by ranking. Today, we focus on the first of our Top 10 performances, which comes from Vassar field hockey forward Megan Caveny against No. 9 University of Rochester.
 
--
 
Who: Megan Caveny, Sophomore
Where: Weinberg Field, Poughkeepsie, NY
When: October 8, 2016
Statistics: 2 goals, GWG in OT, 4 shots, 3 shots on goal
 
The Vassar College 2016 season had been going very well, as the Brewers rolled into the second weekend of October with a 9-2 record overall, but still stinging from an October 1 loss at the hands of William Smith College. The loss dropped Vassar to 1-1 in the Liberty League, with a tough stretch of games coming up starting with a tilt against No. 9 University of Rochester at home.
 
The advantage that Vassar had coming into the game was that it was playing at home on Weinberg Field, a place that VC had lost just one game since the 2014 season. The Brewers were comfortable on Weinberg, but also cognizant of fact that they would need to play a strong game against a possession-driven Yellowjacket team that was 10-1 on the season and 1-0 in the conference.
 
Despite getting down early in the game, as UR's Callie Fisher deposited a penalty stroke goal 22:19 into the game, the Brewers didn't go away and started to control the play. After the intermission, sophomore Megan Caveny and her squad would start to mount the comeback. The star forward, who was stymied for much of the first half, became a force for the Brewers as she struck at 44:26 of the game off of a penalty corner to knot the game at one. The play was well designed, and Caveny hammered her shot off a stick stop from senior Emma Bracken inside the left post to tie the game.

Vassar kept the pressure on, as VC outshot the Yellowjackets 5-1 in the second half but couldn't get the game winner before the end of regulation, sending the contest into overtime. Once there, the Brewers needed just 3:14 of game time to send the fans home happy, as Caveny scored a remarkable goal thanks to another strong effort from freshman Sam Plante. Senior Sophie Arnold picked off a pass in the 7-on-7 overtime format and jetted down the left side of the field, shooting a pass into the middle of the field for Plante. As she received the pass, a UR defender stepped on her heel, ripping her right shoe off. Despite the exposed foot, Plante stayed with the play and fired a cross into Caveny. The ball was bouncing but Caveny swung her stick through at nearly waist height, connecting perfectly to hammer the ball into the cage for the game-winning tally.
 
The score was Caveny's seventh of the season, as the Brewers defeated Rochester at home for the third consecutive try. The win also pushed VC to 10-2 on the season, going 2-1 in the Liberty League. Vassar would continue to post wins on the year, as the Brewers hosted their first ever conference tournament game on route to a program record 14 wins on the year. Much of that had to do with the play from Caveny, who earned All-Liberty League Second Team honors as a sophomore.
 
--

Over the next few weeks, VassarAthletics.com will be revealing the Top 10 Performances from last year in chronological order, not ranked in any order this year. Wednesday afternoon, we will release the second performance on the list. Make sure to follow along at www.vassarathletics.com, while getting involved on social media with Vassar Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

2016-17 Vassar Top Individual Performances
July 17 – Honorable Mentions
July 18 – Top Individual Performance #1 – Megan Caveny vs. Rochester, Oct. 6, 2016
July 19 – Top Individual Performance #2
July 20 – Top Individual Performance #3
July 21 – Top Individual Performance #4
July 21 – Top Individual Performance #5
July 24 – Top Individual Performance #6
July 25 – Top Individual Performance #7
July 26 – Top Individual Performance #8
July 27 – Top Individual Performance #9
July 28 – Top Individual Performance #10