POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Clinching the No. 1 seed and the program's first Liberty League regular season title, the No. 6 Vassar College field hockey (16-1, 7-0 Liberty) team opens the conference tournament tomorrow against RPI (6-11, 3-4 Liberty). Game is set to start at 6 p.m. at Vassar's Weinberg Field.
 
The 2018 season has been a historic one. The team closed the season on a 14-game winning streak while recording 11 shutouts in that span. The Brewers are following two shutout wins against non-conference opponents Scranton and New Paltz.
 
Vassar features the second-toughest defense in the nation with a .41 goals against average. A stellar backline has been key to the Brewers' success, allowing only 70 shots all season while never giving up more than eight in a single game. Monica Feeley (Harrisburg, PA) has anchored a Vassar defense and has accounted for five defensive saves while limiting foes to seven goals all year. Feeley is joined by Molly Youse (New Cumberland, PA) and Ally Aquilina-Piscitello (Lexington, MA). Aquilina-Piscitello is second on the team with three defensive saves. Goalkeeper Liz Rotolo (Lebanon, NJ) is second in the league with seven shutouts and has recorded 25 saves this season.
 
Offense isn't slacking either, scoring a league-best 3.94 goals a game. This results from a balanced attack from Megan Caveny (Cicero, NY), Alyssa More (Wilmington, DE), Emily Poehlein (Northampton, MA), Mikayla Young (Harrisburg, PA), Cristina Lopez (Timonium, MD), Rylie Pope (San Diego, CA) and Sam Plante (Watertown, MA) who have all accounted for 11 or more points this season. Caveny is tied for fourth in the conference with 31 points (10 goals, 11 assists), while More is sixth at 28 points (10 goals, eight assists). Poehlein currently leads the league with six game-winning goals this year.
 
RPI is the No 4 seed and closed the regular season on a two-game winning streak against Castleton and Oneonta. The Engineers average 1.53 goals a game, but have given up 2.65 per game. Mikalea DiBello leads the Engineers with 21 points (10 goals, one assist), while Casey Collette is second with 12 points (four goals, four assists). Rachel Kaufman has started 15 games in net and has picked up 138 saves with two shutouts.
 
Wednesday's winner will move into the Liberty League finals against the winner of the Skidmore and Rochester game on Saturday.