NORTHAMPTON, MA – The No. 6 Brewers field hockey recorded its second shutout of the season, following a 2-0 victory over the Pioneers on Saturday afternoon. Junior Grace Amell (West Hartford, CT) netted the first Vassar goal in the second quarter, while junior Dara Studnitzer (New City, NY) tallied her first score of the year in the fourth.

With the win, Vassar remains undefeated at 5-0, which matches their best start to a season since 2014. Smith now drops to 1-4.

Vassar controlled the field in the first quarter and took five shots on goal while not allowing a single Pioneers' shot attempt. An early Brewers' penalty corner at 2:17 was inserted by senior Stephanie Palma (Manhasset, NY) to Rylie Pope (San Diego, CA) at the top of the circle. Pope fired a first shot that was knocked away by Smith goalkeeper Channy Cornell. Pope collected the rebound and launched another attempt, but Cornell was there again for the save. Freshman Sam Kass (Ann Arbor, MI) followed with a shot of her own that was also deflected by the goalkeeper.

Early in the second, Amell and Heidi Zahnleuter (Clifton Park, NY) kept the pressure on the Pioneers' defense, but Cornell held strong to turn them away. Smith had their first shot on goal when Victoria Mellow made the attempt on freshman goalkeeper Jules Smith (Mullica Hill, NJ), who was able to turn the shot away. Soon after that Cristina Lopez (Timonium, MD) found the ball and passed off to Amell. She was finally able to slip the shot past Cornell to give Vassar a 1-0 lead at 19:57.

Following the goal, Smith did not allow a single Vassar shot for the remainder of the half. Mellow and Anna Ballou made had a few chances in the final minutes, but Vassar's Smith held steady in net.

The third went scoreless, with the Brewers holding a 5-2 shot advantage. Lopez nearly scored at 44:53, but Bryn Murray made the clutch defensive save to keep it a one-goal game.

Studnitzer only waited 36 seconds into the start of the fourth to net Vassar's second goal. Now down 2-0, Smith pushed the paced and had three penalty corners and five shot attempts from the 54^th to 57^th minute. The Vassar defense tightened up and the Brewers held on for the shutout.

Pope and Sam Plante (Watertown, MA) led Vassar with three shots each, while Mellow had a game-high four for Smith. Murray and Sammie Pavlov both had three shots, and Murray recorded two defensive saves in the game. In goal, Smith had five saves to go along with her first-career shutout, while the Pioneers' Cornell tallied 11 saves.

Vassar now travels to No. 10 Montclair State (4-0) on Sept. 18 for a 7 p.m. game. Smith continues their three-game home stand by facing Williams (1-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.