POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 27, 2015) – The Vassar College women's lacrosse team will head to the Liberty League playoffs for the third consecutive year, this time as the No. 3 seed. The team will face second-seeded Skidmore College on Friday May 1 at 5:00 pm.
Game Details
Opponent: Skidmore College (12-4, 7-2 LL)
Links: (Skidmore Women's Lacrosse Homepage) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Schenectady, NY
Facility: Frank Bailey Field
Date: May 1, 2015
Time: 5:00 pm
Coverage: (Live Stats) (Video)
Liberty League Playoffs
The Liberty League postseason features Union College (11-3, 9-0 LL), at the No. 1 seed. The Dutchwomen, who remain undefeated in Liberty League play, will face the fourth seeded University of Rochester (9-7, 5-4 LL) at 2:00 pm. Both semi-final games Friday and the championship Saturday will be played at Union's home turf Frank Bailey Field.
Finishing Up the Regular Season
The Brewers had a huge regular season finale against St. Lawrence and Clarkson University, winning both games by a six-goal margin. On Friday against the Saints, the Brewers came back after being down 4-1, scoring ten consecutive goals to win by a final decision of 11-5. All but one of St. Lawrence's previous losses heading into the weekend was decided by just one goal. Vassar followed up on Saturday, earning a 14-8 win against Clarkson in the senior's last game at Weinberg Field.
Senior goalie Kate Pula (Washington Township, NJ/Immaculate Heart Academy) only allowed five goals and had six saves to earn the win against St. Lawrence. Senior Jackie Palma (Manhasset, NY/ Manhasset Junior-Senior) caused five turnovers, while Junior Isabelle Goldstein (Belmont, MA/Belmont) scored three goals and added three assists, and sophomore Julia Trudell (Newton, CT/ Newtown) added three goals and one assist against the Saints.
On Saturday against Clarkson freshman Storm Sideleau (Hopkinton, NH/ Kimball Union Academy) scored a career-high five goals, while Goldstein added four of her own. Trudell was key in setting up the offense from behind the cage with three assists and one goal. Seniors Evie Toland (Nyack, NY/ Nyack) and Enya Cunningham (Stroudsburg, PA/ Stroudsburg) combined for seven draw controls.
Regular Season against Skidmore
Skidmore handed Vassar their biggest loss of the season back on April 4th in Saratoga Springs, NY. The Thoroughbreds outscored the Brewers in each half to earn an 11-6 victory at Wachenheim Field.
Skidmore led the entire game, starting both the first and second half with four unanswered goals. The Thoroughbreds outshot the Brewers 20-11 and had a 15-14 edge in groundballs and an 11-8 edge in draw controls.
Skidmore's Tyler Phillips notched game-high six points on four goals and two assists. Emma Harris added five points, potting a hat trick and adding two assists, while Rachel Talanian had a goal and a game-high five draw controls and three caused turnovers. Julia Trudell finished with a team-best two goals for VC.
A Look at the Thoroughbreds (12-4, 1-6 LL)
Skidmore finished up the regular season with a 9-8 loss to Union College this past Saturday. Prior to that, the team had won seven consecutive Liberty League match-ups since they lost the very first game of the season to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in double overtime by a score of 9-8. The past six games for Skidmore have been decided by no more than a two-goal margin. On Friday the Thoroughbreds beat William Smith College 11-10 to hand the Herons their fourth loss of the season and knock them out of playoff contention.
Sophomore Tyler Phillips, who had nine goals this past weekend, ranks first in the Liberty League in scoring with 52 goals so far this season. The midfielder also leads her team with nine assists, 33 ground balls, and a second-best 23 caused turnovers. Senior Spencer Morgan has added 35 goals, while Junior Emma Harris has 32 goals so far. Together the three Thoroughbreds account for 119 out of 172 total goals this season, making up 69% of the scoring offense. Sophomore Rachel Talanian, who had 41 draw controls, 28 ground balls, and team-high 27 caused turnovers in the first 12 games of the season, has not played in a game since April 11th.
Against Skidmore All-Time
Vassar is 6-18 against Skidmore all-time and last earned a victory on March 28, 2014 when VC edged Skidmore 7-6 at home on Weinberg Field. They have never met in Liberty League playoffs before.
Record Breaking Season
Jackie Palma set a new single season school record this season with 39 caused turnovers so far. Kaitlin Harvie '05 held the previous Vassar record of 36 CTOs in a season, set back in 2004.
Goldstein broke both the single season and career assists record this past Friday against St. Lawrence. She now has 32 this season and 80 on her career. Allie Fantl previously held both of these records, recording 29 assists in her 2007 season, and 78 for her career.
Team of the Week
The Vassar women's lacrosse team swept the Liberty League Team of the Week honors on Monday, earning all three selections after a 3-0 week.
Looking Ahead
Should the Brewers win on Friday, the team will advance to the Liberty League Championship game on Saturday, May 2. Faceoff for the conference title game is slated for 3:00 pm.
--VASSAR--
