POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – History was made today. The No. 6 Vassar field hockey team earned its first-ever Liberty League title following a thrilling 1-0 victory over No. 9 Rochester on Saturday afternoon at Weinberg Field. Senior Alyssa More (Wilmington, DE) scored the game-winner, while Monica Feeley (Harrisburg, PA) was named Most Outstanding Performer of the tournament.

"All season long, we've been focusing at one game at a time. We prepare hard for each game, "said head coach Michael Warari. "Today, credit goes to every single member of our team. We were resilient, we were strong, and we stuck to the script. I couldn't be prouder." 

From the start, it was clear that this was going to be a tightly contested match. Shots were limited, and defenses held strong with neither team managing a chance until the 8th minute when Rochester's Ava Schwartz sailed one wide.

Rochester almost scored late in the first half after a swarm of Yellowjacket shots almost broke through the Vassar defense. Rochester's Nancy Bansbach fired two at Liz Rotolo (Lebanon, NJ) that the goalkeeper stopped. Then Amanda Strenk collected the rebound and struck the post. The Yellowjackets drew the corner attempt, and Courtney Dunham fired the shot off the insertion. Feeley then made the clutch defensive save to keep the game scoreless.

Rochester outshot the Brewers 7-5 in the half and held a 4-1 corner advantage, but Vassar began to even things up in the second.

Vassar had a few attempts off two Mikayla Young (Honesdale, PA) corners in the opening minutes. Cristina Lopez (Timonium, MD) and Megan Caveny (Cicero, NY) fired two from the corners, but Rochester's Kate Kujawa dug deep. The Brewer's patience finally paid off at the 50:47 mark. Young inserted the corner to Caveny at the top of the circle. Caveny passed quick to More on the right side of the net, and she one-timed the shot into the cage from 10-yards out. The ball bounced around but found its way home to put Vassar on the board.

With plenty of time remaining, Rochester upped its intensity following the score. The Yellowjackets had another corner at the 57th mark, but the flurry of shots was picked up by Feeley and Lopez. After that, the Brewers held Rochester to one shot for the remainder of the game.

Vassar now automatically qualifies for the NCAA Division III Tournament. The championship bracket will be released Sunday at 11:30 p.m. More information will be posted when it becomes available.