Box Score POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 25, 2015) – Sophomore Sam Houston-Read (Waban, MA/Newton South) tallied a career-high eight points on four goals and four assists, as Vassar downed Mt. St. Mary College (NY) 17-12 Wednesday evening. Leading by just one goal heading into the fourth quarter, the Brewers put the game away outscoring the Knights 7-3 in the final 15 minutes of play.
Junior Noah Parson (Cary, NC/Panther Creek) tied for a game-high four goals and added an assist, while sophomores Liam Moriarty (New Fairfield, CT/New Fairfield) and Chris Billups (Watchung, NJ/Oratory Preparatory) both notched a hat trick to pace the Brewers to victory. VC improves to 4-3 on the season with the win, while Mt. St. Mary drops to 3-5.
Vassar got off to a slow start in the game at Weinberg Field, which saw heavy rains pour throughout the night onto the turf creating a slick surface. The Brewers found themselves in a 3-1 hole by the end of the first quarter, as Kenneth Gallagher and Dylan De Meo combined to score three for the Knights early.
VC bounced back at the start of the second, scoring three unanswered goals to open up the quarter. Parson notched back-to-back strikes less than a minute apart to tie the game at three at the 12:02 mark, before Billups gave Vassar its first lead of the game off a dish from junior Shane Flattery (Brewster, NY/Brewster) with 11:40 to play.
The Knights hung around, scoring two of the next three goals to tie the game up 5-5 with 8:37 remaining in the half. Houston-Read put VC back ahead with his first goal of the game at the 2:57 mark as Brewers carried a 6-5 lead heading into the break.
Mt. St. Mary took advantage of an early man-up opportunity at the start of the second half, which ignited a three-goal tear in the first five minutes of the third quarter to jump ahead of the Brewers 8-6. Vassar responded with a three-goal scoring streak of its own, as Parson, senior Scott Brekne (Stony Brook, NY/Ward Melville) and Moriarty buried a trio of goals over a two-minute span to put the hosts back up 9-8.
The Knights would tie things up one last time at the 2:12 mark on a goal from Tristan Earle, but Houston-Read again answered with the final goal of the quarter to give Vassar a 10-9 advantage heading into the fourth.
The Brewers saved their best quarter of play for last, as Houston-Read got VC started with a goal at the 12:53 mark. Moriarty made a fantastic pass to find the sophomore attackman cutting behind his defender, and Houston-Read buried the open look to put his side ahead 11-9. The Knights cut the deficit back to one with a goal little over a minute later, but Houston-Read again stepped up with 10:44 to play to convert another quick strike off a dish from sophomore Brandon DeStasio (West Hempstead, NY/Chaminade).
Another goal from sophomore Matthew Altman (New Fairfield, CT/New Fairfield) with 9:52 on the clock extended the VC lead to three, before the teams traded goals back in forth over the next several minutes.
Vassar took care of business down the stretch, scoring the final three goals of the game while getting stops on defense to clinch the five-goal victory.
VC outshot the Knights 43-22, and finished 2-3 on man up opportunities compared to just 1-5 converted by Mt. St. Mary. The Brewers tied their season-high with 21 faceoff wins against the Knights, who finished with 11.
The Brewers will be back in action this weekend on Saturday, March 28 to face Skidmore College on the road at 1:00 pm in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Notes:
Senior Scott Brekne notched his 300th career faceoff win, winning 8-12 against Mt. St. Mary tonight. Brekne is the only Brewer to accomplish the feat in program history.
Junior Noah Parson is now fifth all-time in career goals at Vassar, passing Jack Gross ('12) on the all-time list with his 67th goal in burgundy and gray against MSM.
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