SWARTHMORE, PA (March 4, 2017) — The Vassar College men's lacrosse team is 3-0 to open the season for the first time in program history after an 8-3 win over Swarthmore College on the road Saturday.
"We have some lofty goals," coach Marc Graham said. "We want to make it to the playoffs. Today was a statement game, and (the Brewers) answered the bell."
The win marked the second straight over the Garnet after beating them for the first time in program history at home last season.
This year, Vassar took down the home team behind a balanced attack, as six different Brewers found the back of the net.
"We have such versatility," Graham said. "It's tough for teams to match up against us when we have so many guys who can score."
Sam Houston-Read and James Thomas potted two goals apiece, while Drew Adams, Brandon DeStasio, Matthew Lowery and Chris Billups each scored one. Liam Moriarty was the primary facilitator, dishing out four assists, while Thomas passed out one to give him three points on the game.
Matthew Lowery won nine of his 14 face-offs on the way to picking up a game-high five ground balls. Erik Mikelinich was second on the team in ground balls with four. The keeper earned his first win of the season with six saves, while Cole Fox took the loss for Swarthmore (2-1) with another six, as the Brewers outshot the home team 14-9 in shots-on-goal.
"We have two starting-caliber goalies, and it's a nice problem to have," Graham said, as keeper Matthew Boyd sports a perfect 2-0 record. "(Assistant coach) Andrew Nicol has done so well with those guys."
Matt Johnson netted two goals for the Garnet, while Cam Marsh added one. Ryan Mulvey finished with two assists, while Graham Lesko tallied one.
"Our defense has been amazing," Graham said. "We've allowed only 11 in three games. We played an undefeated Swarthmore team that was averaging 15 points per game and to hold them to three was an outstanding effort... (Assistant coach) John McCreery has done an outstanding job with (the defensive unit)."
Playing in front of a large crowd of 117, the Brewers jumped out to an early lead with Adams and Houston-Read netting the first two goals of the game, 2-0.
Marsh scored his seventh goal of the season to conclude first-quarter scorning, but DeStasio, Houston-Read and Thomas netted the first three of the second stanza to push their lead to as many as 5-1.
With 11 seconds to go in the first half, Johnson pulled Swarthmore within 5-2 to go into intermission. He picked up where he left off in the second, netting the first score of the half to cut the deficit to as little as two, 5-3.
That's when the Brewers buckled down to score the final three goals of the game. Thomas, Lowery and Billups all found the back of the net in the fourth quarter to conclude scoring.
Vassar returns to Poughkeepsie to host Mount Saint Mary College (NY) on Wednesday, March 8 at 6 p.m.
—VASSAR—
