Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 20, 2009) – In an evenly played and competitive game that featured only a handful of scoring opportunities by either team, Drew University senior attack Elizabeth Law scored five minutes into overtime, leading the visiting Rangers to a 3-2 non-conference victory over the Vassar field hockey team on Tuesday afternoon at Weinberg Field. 

The loss drops Vassar to 2-14 on the season. The Brewers will return to Liberty League play on Saturday at home against Hamilton at 3:00 p.m. Sunday's Senior Day game against St. Lawrence begins at 1:00 p.m. Drew, now winners in seven of its last eight games, improves to 11-5 and will host Catholic on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. 

The Brewers held leads of 1-0 in the first half and 2-1 in the second half, only to have the Rangers respond with goals less than two minutes apart on each occasion. Drew's 1-1 game-tying goal came within 31 seconds of Vassar's initial goal. Drew's 2-2 tally just 1:34 after the Brewers went ahead. 

Law's goal, five minutes into overtime, was constructed off nifty stick handling through the middle of the crease. Her powerful, lifted shot over the right shoulder of Vassar junior goalie Rachel Horwitz was perfect in its execution. However, if not for two sensational saves by Horwitz in the game's final 2:24, the contest may never have gone into overtime. 

Tied 1-1 at the half, Vassar took a 2-1 lead at 38:58 into the second half. Junior Jessica Lance tallied an exciting breakaway goal, one that saw her streak down the middle of the field and slap her shot to the right corner, past Drew sophomore goalie Lauren Fasano. 

Drew responded quickly, as it had done in the first half. Following a penalty corner and pinpoint feed from junior attack Kati Eggert, Drew sophomore midfielder Meghan Howlett blasted a shot past Horwitz that seemed to pick up speed as it traveled to the left corner of the cage. 

Vassar had two opportunities to answer back in the final nine minutes of the game. With 8:55 to play, sophomore defender Rebecca Backer had her pass to a sprinting Jordan Friedmann down the left side sail just inches long off her stick. Had the senior midfielder been able to corral the ball, she had an open path to goal. With 25 seconds remaining, a Lance shot off a penalty corner was nearly deflected into goal by sophomore forward Katy Hwang. 

The Brewer defense did yeoman's work in protecting Horwitz from the aggressive Drew attack. Both junior defender Elissa Lim and senior midfielder Catherine Fuller made several blocking stops of Drew shots. On two occasions, those players kept Drew off the scoreboard. The first came in the 22nd minute of the opening half when Lim stymied a breakaway attempt with nimble stick work against Drew's freshman attack Sarah Charles. The second came in the 20th minute of the second half when Fuller's good positioning stripped Law from the ball, and staved off an offensive move to goal. 

The Brewers got on the board first, just 7:46 in the contest when senior Jennie McAllister wiggled her way into the crease and took a sharp feed from Lance. McAllister slapped the ball past Fasano for her third goal of the season. Drew answered less than a minute later, at 8:46 on a similar play in front of the Vassar goal. Senior midfielder Nicole Batisa placed a ball in the center of the crease to freshman attack Sarah Charles, who flicked her shot on the left side of the cage past Horwtiz. 

Horwtiz made four saves in the game. Fassano made only one save in recording her sixth win of the season. Drew outshot Vassar 15-6 and held a 9-6 advantage on penalty corners.