POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 1, 2017) — The Vassar College men's lacrosse team (2-0) dominated on defense en route to a home-opening win over SUNY Oneonta (0-2) at Weinberg Field on Wednesday, 10-3.
"I thought we played well all around," said face-off specialist Matthew Lowery, who won 13 of 14 attempts. "Our defense did an incredible job — so did Matthew Boyd in the goal. It was pretty incredible on their part."
The Brewers scored the first four goals of the game before pulling away with the final six. Sam Houston-Read led the Brewer offense with four points on one goal and three assists; Michael Mullen recorded three points on a pair of goals and an assist; Liam Moriarty registered three points on a goal and a pair of passes; Brandon DeStasio added a score and assist; Chris Billups added a pair of scores; Liam Neville, Dekker Stebel and Nick Diamond scored one apiece; and Evan Burns and Pat Gibbons both dished out an assist.
"We had eight different guys score 10 goals tonight," coach Marc Graham said. "When you have that type of versatility, it's tough to match up against."
Matt Boyd earned his second win of the season for Vassar with four saves, while Andrew Helfman took his second loss for Oneonta with 10, as the Brewers outshot their visitors 38-11.
"We've got a ton of trust in our defense," Graham said. "Those guys have given up eight goals in two games. When you have that kind of backup behind you, it gives you a lot of confidence on the offensive end."
VC dominated the possession battle, thanks to exceptional play in the midfield. Lowery won 13 of 14 face-off attempts on his way to grabbing a game-best eight groundballs. Chandler Arney was also solid, winning all three of his face-off attempts.
"Matt Lowery and then Chandler Arney, who came in — when you win 16 out of 17 face-offs, you get a lot of possessions," Graham said. "A lot possessions equals a lot of opportunities to score and a lot less opportunities for the other team to score. Having those guys give us possession after possession was huge."
TJ Kilmetis tallied two points on a goal and an assist for Oneonta; Hunter DeLuca and AJ Solomito both netted a goal; and Ryan Curley dished out an assist. Shane Carroll led the Red Dragons' defensive effort, grabbing six ground balls and forcing three turnovers.
The Brewers potted the first four goals, finding the back of the net twice in the first quarter and twice in the second. Houston-Read, who finished with four points in VC's season-opening win at Drew University on Saturday, assisted on the first and fourth goals of the half, finding Neville and Billups for their first tallies of the young season.
In between those two scores, Burns found Mullen for his third goal, and Moriarty fed DeStasio for his first.
The Oneonta offense tried to catch up, scoring a trifecta of goals over the two halves to pull as close as 4-3, but Vassar settled in to score an additional six.
Moriarty sparked the second-half surge with an assist to Mullen for a man-up score. By the end of the night, the Brewers scored three man-up goals — a testament to the team's ability to capitalize on given opportunities.
Moriarty then found the back of the net himself, thanks to a pass from DeStasio. Stebel also netted his first score of the season on an unassisted play to cap the third quarter.
VC picked right back up in the fourth, with Gibbons finding Billups, Mullen feeding Houston-Read, and Houston-Read returning the favor for Diamond to tally his first score of the season.
"When we run our offense and we make eight or 10 passes, we really get the defense moving and get good opportunities to shoot," Graham said. "We've got a lot of guys who can shoot."
The Brewers are back in action on Saturday, March 4, facing Swarthmore College on road at 7 p.m. VC beat the Garnet for the first time in program history at home in 2016 and looks to keep new tradition going.
—VASSAR—
