KINGSTON, NY (September 8, 2007) -- Led by a hat-trick from senior midfielder Katherine Simon (Waukesha, WI/Arrowhead), the Vassar field hockey team defeated Elms College 7-0 in the opening game of the 19th Annual Betty Richey Field Hockey Tournament on Saturday at Dietz Stadium in Kingston.

The Brewers improve to 1-1 and will face Kings College, a 5-1 winner over MIT, in the championship game at noon on Sunday at SUNY New Paltz. The Blazers drop to 0-2 and play MIT in the consolation game at 10 am on Sunday.

The Brewers controlled possession for the entire game, out-shooting the Blazers 25-1.

Simon started Vassar off on the right foot less than three minutes into the game, turning an Emily Fare (Guilford, CT/Choate Rosemary Hall) penalty corner into a 1-0 Vassar advantage. In the 18th minute, junior Hannah Beswick (Wilmington, DE/Wilmington Friends) received a pass from sophomore forward Janet Soltau (South Burlington, VT/South Burlington) and nailed a shot into the net, giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead.

With 9:26 to play in the half, Simon netted her second goal of the game on a pin-point pass from senior Chrissy Lewis (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrenceville School). Lewis crossed a pass to Simon, who one-timed the offering into the back of the goal.

The Brewers showed impressive ball movement in the second half, netting four more goals. Just two minutes into the second half, freshman Jessica Lance (Enfield, CT/Enfield) threaded the ball to Solteau who passed the ball off to Simon. Simon completed the play and notched her hat trick, giving the Brewers a four-goal lead.

Lance, sophomore Rachel Lowenthal (Bethesda, MA/Walter Johnson) and sophomore Jordan Friedmann (Chicago, IL/Francis W. Parker) each had a goal apiece in the second half.

Lance led the Brewer offensive charge with five shots, while Simon had four and Jessie Albert (West Hartford, CT/William H. Hall) recorded three.

Vassar held the advantage in penalty corners 21-0.

Junior Taylor Herman (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) and freshman Rachel Horwitz (Beverly Hills, CA/Harvard-Westlake) split time in goal for the Brewers. For the Blazers, Katelyn Wasgatt (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) and Jillian Burrows (Pembroke, MA/Pembroke) shared time in net, with Wasgatt recording nine saves.

In the second game of the day, Kings College defeated MIT 5-1. Senior Megan Farrell (Clarks Summit, PA/Lackawanna Trail) and Debbie Wychock (Wilkes-Barre, Coughlin) each recorded two goals apiece for the Monarchs and sophomore Marissa Lear (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Meyers) rounded out the scoring. Engineer Katie Boothe (Landenberg, PA/Archmere Academy) broke up the shut-out in the 66th minute, on an assist from Jessica Oleinik (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial).

Wychock had nine of the Monarch's 18 shots, while Oleinik and Boothe combined for 10 of the Engineer's 17 shots. Alexa Herman (Suffern, NY/Suffern) and Sally Simpson (Minneapolis, MN/Academy of the Holy Angels) combined for ten shots in goal for the Engineers. For the Monarchs, Kari Leach (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) and Heather Kelly (Hawley, PA/Wallenpaupack Area) also stopped ten shots.

Kings improves to 4-0 while MIT drops to 0-2.