POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 31, 2016) — The Vassar College men's lacrosse team (4-3, 1-0 Liberty) will be looking for its third straight victory this weekend. The Brewers will play the Engineers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY on Saturday, April 2 at 1 p.m.

Game Details
Opponent: at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (5-2, 1-1 Liberty)
Links: (Vassar Men's Lacrosse Homepage) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
(RPI Men's Lacrosse Homepage) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Troy, NY
Facility: ECAV Stadium
Date: April 2, 2016
Time: 1 p.m. Saturday
Links: (Live Stats)
 
Last Time Out
Vassar opened conference play with a solid 12-10 victory over Skidmore College at home Saturday. Noah Parson and James Thomas each scored hat tricks, as seven Brewers found the back of the net. The game was locked at 5-all at the break before Vassar one-upped Skidmore in the final two periods. Sam Houston-Read scored the go-ahead goal, 10-9, with 7:17 remaining in the contest, as the Brewers outscored the Thoroughbreds 3-1 to end the game. Goalkeeper Brandon Crecco earned the win for the Brewers with 11 saves.

A Look at the RPI Engineers (5-2, 1-1 Liberty)
The Engineers are coming into Saturday's competition hot, having won their past four meetings. They've beaten Whittier College 17-9, Connecticut College 11-7, Bard College 18-3 and most recently Plattsburgh State 9-6 — all on the road. RPI's last loss came at home March 12 when it fell at home to Rochester Institute of Technology. The Engineer's meeting with the Brewers will be one of two at home before they hit the road for three games.

In their most recent game against Plattsburgh on Wednesday, the Engineers outscored the Cardinals in the middle two quarters to secure the win. RPI trailed 3-2 after one before outscoring Plattsburgh 7-2 over the next two quarters. Five different Engineers scored: Breanainn McNeally potted three, while Matthew Gilman and Lucas Bastarache each scored two. JT Kelly and Matt Hall tacked on one apiece as well. Goalkeeper David Gibbs earned the win with 11 saves. McNeally leads the team with 25 goals on the season, Patrick Finn leads with 14 assists and John Phillips leads with 24 ground balls and 15 forced turnovers.

Against RPI All-Time
Vassar is looking for its first victory versus RPI, having fallen in all 17 games since their first meeting in 1999. Most recently, the Brewers were barely edged 9-8 by the Engineers on the road. They're hoping to one-up them this time around.

Liberty League Standings
Vassar sits third in the Liberty League standings, having won its past two games. RIT (9-0) and St. Lawrence (8-0) are the only remaining teams that are undefeated in the conference. RPI is right behind Vassar with its 5-2 record, followed by Union College (5-3), Skidmore (3-5) and Clarkson (2-6).

Thomas Takeover
James Thomas was tabbed the Liberty League Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive time on Monday after his performances his previous week. The freshman has continued to be stellar for the Brewers, posting four goals and four assists in Vassar's 2-0 week. He also forced two turnovers and picked up four ground balls to boot in those games. In Vassar's 13-6 win at Mount Saint Mary on March 23, Thomas dished out a game-high four assists to go with a goal. The freshman even helped put the Brewers up for good, 5-4, with a pass to Noah Parson in the second quarter. Thomas followed that performance with a hat trick in Vassar's 12-10 win over Skidmore on March 26. He was persistent on the offensive end, putting Brewers on the board, 1-0, before breaking a 5-all tie and later a 6-all tie.

Crecco in the Cage
Goalkeeper Brandon Crecco has been solid for the Brewers in the cage. The junior went a perfect 2-0 last week, holding off Mount Saint Mary on March 23 and Skidmore on Saturday March 26. The goalkeeper blocked 16 shots in the Brewer's 13-6 win over the Knights and 11 in their 12-10 victory over the Thoroughbreds. Crecco was key down the stretch on Saturday, keeping the Thoroughbreds at bay when it was just a one-goal game. He ranks fifth in the conference with 10.57 saves per game and seventh with 10.04 goals-against.

Net-Finder Noah
Noah Parson has continued to be a force for the Brewer offense, totaling seven goals and two assists last week. At Mount Saint Mary College, Parson potted the first two goals for Vassar to jumpstart the offense before putting the Brewers ahead for good, 5-4, with a man-up goal in the second stanza. He capped his four-goal, one-assist effort with another goal later in the half, giving the Brewers even more momentum on their way to a solid win. Parson followed that performance with three goals and an assist against Skidmore. After falling behind early, he put the Brewers within one before knotting it at 3 with an assist. Then he scored the final two goals for the Brewers, giving them some breathing room late in the contest. Parson has found the back of the net a team-high 17 times. He ranks seventh in the conference with 2.43 goals per game and sixth with 3.43 points per contest.

Helping Hands
Two Brewers rank within the conference's Top 10 when it comes to lending a helping hand. Liam Moriarty is fifth with his 1.50 assists per game, while Sam Houston-Read sits sixth with his 1.43 dimes per contest. As a whole, the Brewers rank fourth in the League with 7.29 helps per game.

DeStasio with the Scoop!
Brandon DeStasio has scooped up a team-leading 28 ground balls for the Brewers. With that, he ranks sixth in the conference in with 4.00 per contest.

On The Up And Up
The Brewers have been efficient with executing on extra-man opportunities. They rank third in the conference with 1.43 man-up goals per game, only behind RPI (1.86) and Clarkson (1.71).

All-Time Leader
Senior captain Noah Parson became the all-time leading scorer for the Vassar men's lacrosse team when he scored his 92nd career goal on March 5. Parson's seventh goal of the season pushed him past former teammate Max Herman (class of 2014) in the record books. With 17 goals on the season, Parson currently has 116 in his career. And with 46 points on the season, the senior is Vassar's all-time leader in career points with 167. The record was previously held by Herman, who finished his collegiate career with 135.

Up Next
The Vassar men's lacrosse team returns home to Poughkeepsie, NY for games against Drew University (Tuesday, April 5 at 6 p.m.) and Clarkson University (Saturday, April 9 at 12 p.m.)