PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (March 14, 2017) — The Vassar College women's lacrosse team (1-2) rode a hot start all the way to a 19-8 victory over the University of New England (3-2) at Ross Park in Port Charlotte, FL on Tuesday.
Tessa Waters (4g, 1a) and Storm Sideleau (3g, 2a) led the Brewers with five points apiece; Fiona MacLeod (2g, 2a) added four; and Kelly Pushie (3g), Gabi Patick (3g) and Amelia Rivoir (1g, 2a) finished with three to round out the Brewers' offensive leaders.
"Certainly, any time you have that kind of scoring distribution, it gives you a lot more weapons, and it's much tougher to defend," coach Judy Finerghty said. "We did have a lot of kids involved today, which was great. We really moved the ball. We had good scoring opportunities both passing a driving, so it was good."
The Brewers were also solid on defense, with Sydney Nemphos leading the way with a team-high five ground balls to go along with three created turnovers. Sara Mathes was also stellar, posting a team-best five created turnovers to go along with two ground balls.
"I think on defense we did a really great job of just sliding for each other," Mathes said. "We've been working on communicating with each other, and I think that's why we clamped down in the second half."
Kristin Caolo earned the win for Vassar with five saves in the first half before Emily Chancey took over to make seven in the second.
"Our goalies did a great job stopping the ball today, and sending good clears out — especially in the second half," Finerghty said. "Both of them came up with a lot of saves that we needed."
Meanwhile, Maritza Nary took the loss for UNE, fending away 10 shots over full time, as the Brewers outshot the Nor'easters 30-20 in shots-on-goal.
Brooke Kelleher (2g, 1a) led UNE with three points, while Jocelyn Davee (2g), Nichole Carvalho (2g) and Korinne Bohunsky (1g, 1a) added two apiece.
Playing in their first game of spring break, the Brewers opened with a 7-1 run. MacLeod struck first before Pushie netted another two, 3-0.
The Nor'easters found the back of the net on the other side before the Brewers ripped off another four. Waters netted two, Julia Trudell added one and Patick capped the burst with another, 7-1.
UNE found some life, scoring four straight to pull as close as two, 7-5, but Rivoir potted the final score of the half for Vassar to carry an 8-5 advantage into the break.
UNE scored first in the second before Sideleau went off for three straight tallies, 11-6. The Nor'easters cut the deficit to as little as 11-8 with a pair of scores before the Brewers put them away, scoring the final eight to end the game.
Waters and Patick both netted two, while MacLeod, Pushie, Hannah Cho and Lindsay Wolk all added one.
"It gives you a lot of momentum," Waters said, "getting really hyped, getting lots of goals really gives you a lot of energy."
The Brewers look to keep the momentum going when they play Fitchburg State University at Ross Park on Thursday, March 16 at 10 a.m.
—VASSAR—
