ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY (April 26, 2017) – The Vassar College men's lacrosse team earned its first-ever double-digit win season on Wednesday evening, as the Brewers knocked off Liberty League foe Bard College 19-4 in conference action from Ferrari Field.
 
The victory over Bard now sets up a Senior Day contest with Union College at 1 p.m. on Gordon Field for a spot in the Liberty League Tournament. The Brewers (10-4, 3-3 Liberty) got five players with two or more goals on Wednesday, while 12 players in total tallied at least once in the victory.
 
The game didn't start out well though for the Brewers, with Bard (4-8, 0-6 Liberty) scoring the first tally of the game on an Emmet O'Connell unassisted goal, his 17^th of the year. The Brewers would even the game 35 seconds later on senior Chris Billups' first of three goals on the night, getting help from freshman Michael Mullen for the score.
 
The Brewers netted the next five goals after that as well, finishing the first quarter up 6-1. Bard once again started a period with a score, as O'Connell tallied at 13:05 of the second, but the goal was answered by a 5-1 run by the Brewers. During the stretch, Vassar got goals from four different players including two from Mullen to take an 11-3 lead into the break.
 
After the intermission, the Brewer defense tightened up and allowed just one second-half score with five seconds left in intermission to roll to the Liberty League win. Mullen led all players with five points, scoring three times while assisting on two others. Senior Sam Houston-Read scored once but dished out a team-high four assists, and sophomore Dekker Stebel also chalked up four points on a goal and three helpers. He also moved into No. 3 on the all-time goals scored list at Vassar with his 74th career score, passing Christopher Toffoli and his 73 career scores.
 
Seniors Liam Moriarty and Brandon DeStasio each tallied two goals and an assist for Vassar, while Billups contributed a hat trick from his attack spot. Freshman Austin Mello chalked up his first two-goal effort as a Brewer Wednesday, and Evan Burns and Peter Schiffenhaus each scored their first goals of the season as well.
 
Defensively, freshman Parker Sargeant led the way with three caused turnovers and two ground balls, while senior Steven Mages contributed two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Freshman Matthew Lowery was once again strong on the face-off dot, as he went 7-of-10 with six ground balls. Fellow newcomer Chandler Arney won four of his six face-off attempts as well, adding four loose ball pickups. Goalkeepers Matt Boyd and Erik Mikelinich combined to make 10 saves in the win. 
 
The Brewers out-shot Bard 49-18 on the night, posting a decided 46-23 edge in the ground ball category. Vassar was 9-for-12 on clears, while forcing Bard into just seven clears on 16 attempts. Each team was 2-for-4 on extra-man opportunities.

Looking at the standings, Vassar will be either the No. 3 seed in the Liberty League Tournament with a win on Saturday against Union, or will be out of playoff contention with a loss. With four teams at 3-3, Vassar holds the tiebreaker against both Clarkson and RPI, who are playing on Saturday. The winner of that game will be the No. 4 seed in the Tournament if Vassar wins.
 
Senior Day festivities will begin minutes prior to the first face-off on Saturday, as the Brewers will honor 10 seniors for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the continued success and improvement of the Vassar men's lacrosse program. The game will be live streamed, with live stats also being available at www.vassarathletics.com.