POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – A season ago, the Vassar field hockey team proved to be one of the strongest dominate across the nation. That trend might continue in 2019, as the Brewers opened the year with a convincing 3-0 victory over the visiting Stevens' Ducks at Weinberg Field on Friday afternoon.

With the win Vassar moves to 1-0 and advances to tomorrow's Betty Richey Tournament Championship against Geneseo at 2 p.m. Stevens falls to 0-1 and plays Marywood in the consolation game at 11:30 a.m.

Vassar controlled possession from the start, not allowing a single Ducks' shot until the third quarter. Senior Cristina Lopez (Timonium, MD) fired the first shot on goal in the first minute of play, but goalkeeper Emily Franco prevented the early goal. Neither side could find much offense soon after. It was not until the fifth minute that Grace Amell (West Hartford, CT) crossed a pass across the circle to junior Niki Rizzo (Andover, NJ). The ball bounced off the left post to the midfielder who swept the shot into the back of the net.

The Brewers kept their offense moving in the second, outshooting Stevens 8-0 in the quarter. While the Ducks were able to keep the Vassar offense at bay at first, a series of shots from Stephanie Palma (Manhasset, NY) and Rylie Pope (San Diego, CA) loosened up the Ducks' backline. Lopez set a penalty corner to Pope who launched the shot from the top of the circle. Franco made the initial save, but the deflection found its way to sophomore Heidi Zahnleuter (Clifton Park, NY) who then picked up her first goal of the season.

Stevens went on to outshoot Vassar 7-4 in the third, but could not make a dent in the Vassar defense. Two Stevens' penalty corner at 44:55 led to four Ducks' shots in less than a ten second span, but senior goalkeeper Liz Rotolo held strong by making saves on all of them.

Some of the newcomers got in on the action in the final stanza when freshman Ella Pearl (San Francisco, CA) passed high to fellow classmate Sam Kass (Ann Arbor, MI) for the final score of the game.   

Rotolo finished the day with six saves, while Franco had 15 for the Ducks. The Brewers also had a 13-3 penalty corner advantage.