POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 8, 2016) – Sophomore Megan Caveny scored her second of two goals Saturday in overtime to lift the Vassar College field hockey team past No. 9 University of Rochester 2-1 in Liberty League play from Weinberg Field.
 
The come-from-behind victory for the Brewers was their first of the season, as it was also the first time that Vassar has earned a win in a game that it conceded a goal. The first half was back-and-forth, though the best chances came from the visiting Yellowjackets (10-2, 1-1 Liberty League). The win was the second victory over a ranked opponent this season for VC, as the Brewers defeated No. 10 Montclair State 1-0 two weeks ago. 
 
Rochester outshot the Brewers (10-2, 2-1 Liberty League) in the opening half 7-0, while U of R was able to get on the board thanks to a penalty stroke goal from Callie Fisher. On the play, the referee whistled a stroke for Rochester after the ball was headed for the cage, but deemed that Vassar defender touched the ball on the way in. Once on the dot, Fisher looked left the whole time but pushed the ball into the right corner for the lead at 22:19 of the contest.
 
The contest would continue to be back and forth, but Vassar's defense was solid in denying the Yellowjackets another goal thanks to the play from sophomore Monica Feeley. Feeley, along with freshman Sam Plante, were great at switching fields during the game for the Brewers.
 
"We've been working a lot on that in practice, really working on setting the block tackles cleanly," said Feeley, who was also celebrating her 20^th birthday Saturday. "We've been working with the midfielders and forwards to get the ball up there, they all cut back and work to get the ball up."  
 
After the intermission, Vassar's offense would come to life, and its first opportunity with a penalty corner resulted in the Brewers tying the game at one. On the corner, senior Lauren Shumate inserted to Emma Bracken, who stopped the ball for Caveny. The sophomore lashed a shot straight into the left side of the goal to equalize at 44:26 of the game.
 
The Brewers would allow just one more shot the entire half, which when wide right by Claire Dickerson with 17 minutes left in regulation. With just under two minutes to go in the second half VC nearly went up by a goal on a shot by Bracken, but her attempt was stopped off the line by Fisher. Caveny had one more chance as well, but Kiran Sundaram made the save to send the game to overtime.
 
In the extra session, VC controlled the ball for much of the 3:14 of action, before Caveny's game-winner. On the play, Plante jumped a pass in the middle of the field and in the process lost her shot. Undeterred by playing shoeless, the freshman back played a long, bouncing ball into the middle of the circle, and Caveny one-timed her shot out of mid-air into the back of the cage to give the Brewers a huge conference win.
 
Rochester would finish with a slight 8-6 lead in the shot category, while both teams earned three penalty corners on the game. Sophomore Paige Amico made one stop in net for the Brewers, while senior Sophie Arnold also had a defensive save for VC.
 
"We knew work really hard for this win, they're a great team," said Caveny. "After they scored, we showed the fire and came back in the second half and really wanted it."
 
Vassar will have six days off before hosting No. 11 Skidmore College on Weinberg Field at 2 p.m.  for Senior Day, as VC will honor Arnold, Bracken, Shumate, Hayley Beach and Flora Crichton-Stuart before the contest.