Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 21, 2011) – For the first time in school history, the Vassar College field hockey team defeated St. Lawrence. The  2-0 victory over the Saints Friday afternoon at Weinberg Field kept the Brewers Liberty League playoff hopes alive heading into Saturday's game against Skidmore College.

Led by senior Katy Hwang, who scored her first goal of the season and freshman Dara Davis, who had a goal and an assist, the Brewers snapped an 11-0 losing skid against the Saints dating back to the 2000 season. Sophomore goalie Maggie Brelis kept St. Lawrence off the scoreboard with a six save performance. With a 2-3 record in Liberty League play, Vassar is tied with Rochester for the fourth and final playoff spot. The Yellowjackets host William Smith on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

The Brewers improve to 7-6, 2-3, which represents the most wins since the 2002 season and the most league wins since 2005. St. Lawrence drops to 7-7, 1-4. The Brewers host Skidmore on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. and will honor their six graduating seniors prior to the contest. St. Lawrence travels to Union for a 2:00 p.m. game.

The Vassar defense remained steadfast against the Saints, withstanding 16 penalty corners, nine of which came in the second half. While St. Lawrence outshot the Brewers 17-10, Vassar made the most of its three shots on goal, getting a tally in each half to secure the victory.

After an initial rush of shots by St. Lawrence in the early stages of the game, the Brewers got on the scoreboard in the 7th minute when a Davis strike rebounded off the pads of Saints sophomore goalie Nicole Matos. Hwang corralled the ball and scored her first goal of the season off the foot of Matos, who made one save in the game. Despite only having six shots on goal in the first half, Vassar played the majority of the first half in St. Lawrence territory.

The Brewers increased their lead to 2-0 just three minutes into the second half, when Davis secured the ball amidst a scrum in front of the St. Lawrence goal and knocked home her third goal of the season off an assist from senior Maura McCarthy.

St. Lawrence picked up its offensive attack in the second half, but remained unable to slip one past Brelis, who made three second-half saves. St. Lawrence had a golden opportunity to get on the scoreboard with 12:28 to play when junior Courtney Cartier had her close range shot deflect off the post.

“We played really hard,” said Davis after the milestone victory. “We have done a lot of running [in practice] which helped a lot.” Davis said it felt “really good” to be in contention for the Liberty League playoffs.

Saturday's opponent, No. 6 nationally ranked Skidmore, defeated Union 6-0 on Friday night to improve its record to 13-1 and 5-0 in the Liberty League. Skidmore's victory clinched the league title for the Thoroughbreds.