POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 5, 2016) — Noah Parson and Sam Houston-Read led the offensive effort, as the Vassar College men's lacrosse team downed Drew University, 15-6, at home Tuesday. 

With the win, the Brewers improve to 5-4 and remain 1-1 in the Liberty League, while the Rangers drop to 1-9 and remain 0-3 in the Landmark Conference. 

Parson and Houston-Read each registered seven points with four goals and three assists. 

"Sam Houston-Read stood out to me," said Parson, who leads the Brewers with 22 goals on the season. "He was out there making a lot of good looks, finishing on shots."

Fellow captain Brandon DeStasio scored a hat trick, while James Thomas, Liam Moriarty, Evan Burns and Chris Billups each tacked on a goal in the Brewers' bounce-back win. 

"Some of our freshman stepped up," assistant coach John McCreery said. "(Thomas) played well, and Patrick Gibbons on attack controlled the ball very well."

Thomas dished out an assist to have 14 points on the season, and Pat Gibbons forced two turnovers and a ground ball in the contest.

Taking a deeper look at defense, Eric Fishman picked up a team-high four ground balls, while going 6-of-17 in face-offs. 

"Eric Fishman played really well," Parson said. "He was a monster in the face-offs."

Four other Brewers picked up three ground balls: DeStasio, who leads the team with 34 ground balls, Houston-Read, Matthew Altman and Brandon Klein.

Freshman goalkeeper Matt Boyd notched his first collegiate win in net, blocking 11 shots in the process. 

"Starting as a freshman, he was lights out, only giving up six goals," Parson said. "So that was great."

Boyd looked particularly sharp in the second half, as the Rangers potted just one goal after the break.

On the other hand, Greg Swenson took the loss for Drew with 15 saves. Eduardo Palmieri scored two goals, while Thomas Ensmenger, Tom Cotroneo, Ben Ludeman and Kevin Clearly each tallied one. 

Moriarty scored the first goal of the game before assisting Houston-Read for the second. After the Rangers put up a tally, DeStasio scored back-to-back goals to put Vassar ahead, 4-1. 

The Brewers scored the first three goals of the second stanza, including a man-up goal by Parson to start, before the Rangers responded with three of their own, 7-2. 

But Parson sparked another spurt, this time a 5-0 run spanning between the two halves, 12-5.

"After halftime, we readjusted, refocused," McCreery said. "Then we played a little bit tighter."

Drew scored its only goal of the half with about 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter to cut the Vassar lead in half, 12-6. But Houston-Read and DeStasio combined for three goals in the final frame to cushion the lead. 

"I think the key was something we talked about all week during practice," Parson said, "and that was just playing ourselves, being the team we know that we are, not worrying about who our opposition is and simply playing our game."

The Vassar men's lacrosse team hopes to carry this momentum, as it dives deeper into conference play. The Brewers host the Golden Knights of Clarkson University at Gordon Field on Saturday, April 9 at noon.