POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 30, 2016) – The Vassar College women's soccer team netted three second-half goals, fending off a game Clarkson University team in earning a 3-1 Liberty League win on a cold, rainy day from Gordon Field.
 
The Brewers (3-5-1, 2-0-0 Liberty League) had to deal with a myriad of external factors in Friday's win, one of which was a wet, slick pitch which made controlling and possessing the ball difficult. Neither team could get much going in a first-half that saw six total shots.
 
Action began to pick up in the second half, as head coach Corey Holton and counterpart Kelsey Yam from Clarkson made their halftime adjustments. Clarkson had a good chance in the 55^th minute, but a Guilia Mahoney shot was turned away from senior keeper Stephanie Tapolsky.
 
Vassar nearly opened the scoring in the 60^th minute, thanks to a great individual effort from freshman Savannah Cutler. The speedy forward beat two defenders and the keeper to a loose ball, but her shot from tough angle hit the right post, crept along the goal line, hit the left post and was cleared off the line.
 
The breakthrough would come shortly thereafter for the Brewers, as sophomore Rebecca Andrews was hauled down in the box and given a penalty. On the resulting penalty kick, Andrews slowly approached the ball and drove the shot into the top right corner for the 1-0 Vassar lead.
 
The second score for the Brewers would come less than a minute later, thanks to another great play from Cutler. The freshman took a pass from Andrews and pushed the ball towards the end line. She then feed the ball across the goal mouth to an awaiting Audrey Pillsbury, who drove a right-footed shot into an open net to put Vassar up 2-0.
 
Clarkson wouldn't go away though, trimming its deficit to 2-1, as Lauren Flynn drilled home a free kick from 20 yards out for her eight goal of the season with just under 20 minutes to play. The Brewers regained their two-goal lead in the 84^th minute, as Cutler headed a pass through to fellow freshman Gabrielle Deitch, who ran onto the pass and was in all alone on goal. Deitch lifted her shot into the top left corner off the keeper's hands for the goal, her second of the season.
 
The Golden Knights almost brought the game to within one once more in the 86^th minute, but Tapolsky made a great one-on-one save on Mahoney to keep the game at 3-1, where it would finish.
 
The Brewers outshot their guests on the day 17-8, and also picked up three of the five corner kicks in the game. Tapolsky finished with five saves in the victory for the Brewers, while Elyse Green made three saves for CU.
 
"We won when it counted, and we put some things away," said Holton. "A lot of external factors today, with the rain, the wind, the cold…but the girls battled through those things and came out on the other side of things."
 
"We had a lot of movement off the ball, all the forwards were helping each other out," said Cutler. "We were making runs for each other, running on and off the ball, and I think that helped make us successful today."
 
Vassar will have another tough test on Gordon Field Saturday afternoon for Senior Day, welcoming in the Saints of St. Lawrence University (6-1-2, 1-1 Liberty) at 2 p.m. for more Liberty League play. VC will honor its seven seniors prior to the game, as Tapolsky, Kelsey Hamm, Emily Krebs, Phoebe Rueben, Rachel Marklyn, Jordyn Matthews and Rory Chipman all will be recognized for their dedication to the program.