SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (March 25, 2017) — The Vassar College men's lacrosse team (6-2, 0-1 Liberty) sprinkled goals throughout the game, but ultimately fell in its conference-opener at Skidmore College (4-3, 1-0 Liberty) on Saturday, 11-5. 

Sam Houston-Read led the Brewers with three points, while also adding three ground balls. Chris Billups, Brandon DeStasio and Pat Gibbons all found the back of the net, while Chris Koester dished out an assist. 

Matthew Lowery won 10 of 17 face-offs on his way to picking up a game-best six ground balls. 

Erik Mikelinich took the loss for VC with four saves in the first half, while Chris Baughan earned the win for Skidmore with nine stops over the full time. VC goalkeeper Matt Boyd also saw time in net, fending away six shots in the second half, as the Thoroughbreds outshot the Brewers 34-26 overall and 21-14 in shots-on-goal. 

Brendan Halloran (4g, 3a) notched seven points for Skidmore, while Will Lukas (2g, 4a) added six. RJ Caruso (2g) and Jack Metzler (1g, 1a) both finished with two points, while Paddy Fallon (1g), Cody Legeza (1g), Jack Curry (1a), Ian Maag (1a) and Justin Csenge (1a) all tallied one. 

Playing in front of a large crowd of 195, the Brewers jumped out to a 2-1 advantage. Houston-Read dished to Billups for a goal before finding the back of the net himself with a pass from Koester. 

The Thoroughbreds then bridged a 9-1 run over the two halves, with DeStasio breaking up the burst with a score late in the second quarter, 5-3. 

Trailing 10-3 at the end of the third, the Brewers showed fight in the final fame. Gibbons opened the period with an unassisted score to make it a 10-4 ballgame before Houston-Read closed it with the final goal of the contest, 11-5. 

Vassar plays its final non-conference game of the regular season, welcoming Bryn Athyn to Weinberg Field on Tuesday, March 28 for a 7 p.m. tilt. 

—VASSAR—