FARMINGDALE, NY (April 13, 2016) — Freshman James Thomas notched his third-career hat trick, as the Vassar College men's lacrosse team topped Farmingdale State University on the road Wednesday, 12-8. 

With the win, the Brewers improve to 7-4, while the Rams fall to 9-2 with their first loss since March 5.

Thomas was one of seven Brewers to find the back of the net. Liam Moriarty (2 goals, 4 assists), Noah Parson (2 goals, 2 assists), Sam Houston-Read (2 goals, 1 assist), Brandon DeStasio (1 goal, 2 assists), Chris Billups (1 goal) and Pat Gibbons (1 goal) all scored as well. 

Face-off specialist Eric Fishman grabbed a team-high five ground balls, while Peter Schiffenhaus picked up three. Eric Prezioso was also solid on defense with two ground balls and two created turnovers. 

Goalkeeper Matt Boyd earned his second win of the season with 15 saves, while Thomas Fallon took the loss with four, as the Rams outshot the Brewers, 42-27. 

Michael Cegielski and Tyler Rifice scored two goals apiece for FSU, while Mike Curry, Stephen White, Conor Pittard and Patrick Cowcer each tallied one. 

The Brewers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, as Moriarty assisted on the first three goals, finding Parson twice and Houston-Read once. Houston-Read capped the spurt with another goal, his 19th of the season, thanks to a dish from DeStasio before the Rams got on the board with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter.

The teams exchanged goals in the second stanza. Parson passed to Thomas, DeStasio dished to Billups and Houston-Read fed Moriarty, as the teams see-sawed back and forth. With that, Vassar took a commanding 7-3 lead into the break. 

DeStasio created his own shot to open scoring in the second half, before FSU netted two goals of its own, 8-5. 

Just like the Brewers had done the first three quarters, they scored first in the fourth. This time, Parson found Moriarty for his 10th goal of the season. But the Rams pulled within three 45 seconds later. 

Moriarty secured his season-high fourth assist of the game when he found Gibbons about a minute later, 10-6. Thomas scored the final two goals for Vassar to notch his 14th of the season. The freshman has scored in each of the seven games he's played in.

FSU potted one last goal with a minute remaining, but that was the closest it came to turning the game around. 

The Vassar men's lacrosse team remains on the road for games against St. Lawrence University (Saturday, April 16 at noon) and Williams College (Wednesday, April 20 at 6 p.m.) before returning to Poughkeepsie for the final two home games of the regular season.