MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The No. 5 Vassar College field hockey team's season came to an end on Saturday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Championships. Despite tying the game in the second half and drawing overtime, the Brewers were edged by TCNJ in the eighth round of the penalty shootout.
The Lions improve to 16-4 with the win, while Vassar wraps up the season at a program-best 18-2 overall.
The seventh-ranked Lions proved to be one of Vassar's toughest opponents all season, but the Brewers managed to control a majority of the game. TCNJ only took three shots in the half, but a late first-half attempt off a penalty corner broke through the Vassar defense. Kayla Peterson shot from the insertion, but Cayla Andrews found the deflection and rebounded it into net.
Vassar dominated the second half, outshooting TCNJ 17-1 while holding a 7-3 corner advantage. The all-out offense eventually paid off at the 52
nd minute.
Rylie Pope (San Diego, CA) picked up
Megan Caveny (Cicero, NY) during a scramble in front of the cage that the senior was able to slip in.
With overtime lurking, the Lions put the pressure on with three penalty corners in the final eight minutes. Tori Hannah had a near goal at the 66:00 mark, but
Liz Rotolo (Lebanon, NJ) was there for the clutch save.
The first overtime period only saw four total shots, with both sides taking two each. A quick pair of Vassar shots off a
Mikayla Young (Honesdale, PA) corner almost put the game away.
Cristina Lopez (Timonium, MD) fired the first shot on goal that was saved by Maddie Beaumont.
Alyssa More (Wilmington, DE) then collected the deflection and launched the ball just high over the net.
The Brewers managed five shots in the second overtime, but Beaumont was unbreakable with three saves. Tensions got high once penalty strokes were brought into the mix. The first four were missed, but TCNJ made the next. Lopez answered right after to keep it tied. Tori Tiefenthaler scored the next, but
Monica Feeley (Harrisburg, PA) kept the Brewers alive. In the next rounds, the penalty strokes were tied 2-2, but TCNJ's Hannah proved to be the final scorer to put the Lions into the round of eight.
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