POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Following its 2-0 victory in the Liberty League Championship First Round over fifth-seeded Skidmore, the fourth-seeded Vassar College Field Hockey team will head north to take on the top-seed Rochester Yellowjackets in a semifinal matchup on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. The Brewers enter Friday's matchup at 13-5 overall and finished 5-2 in Liberty League play while the Yellowjackets earned the top seed with a 15-4 overall record and 6-1 in Liberty League action.

After her three point night in the victory over Skidmore on Tuesday night, Vassar is led by junior Hailey Brigger (San Diego, CA) who leads the team in points with 23 as she has tallied nine goals, including two game-winners, and a team-high five assists for the Brewers while being named the Liberty League Offensive Performer of the Week twice. Sophomore Gianna Trunfio (Clinton, NY) is a key catalyst on offense as she holds the team-lead in goals with 10 and has two game-winning goals on the season. Sophomore Leilani Llamas (Grapevine, TX) has five goals on the year and four of them are game-winners and has been named the Liberty League Offensive Performer of the Week once.

Juniors Kate Neikirk (Hayes, VA) and Heidi Compton (Clark, NJ) lead the team in minutes played in the backline for Vassar as the Brewers have only allowed 18 goals in 18 games this season. Junior goalkeeper Sarah Dumaresq (Barnstable, MA) has put together another strong campaign for Vassar as she has posted a 0.97 goals against average while making 39 saves and posting five shutouts.

PREVIEWING ROCHESTER: The Yellowjackets are led by leading scorer Nikki Mercer who has tallied 14 goals and three assists to lead the team in points with 31. Karina Bridger leads the squad and the Liberty League in assists with 11 while Maeve Fogarty is second in points with 24 as she has scored seven goals and recorded 10 assists.

Elisabeth Sidorski leads Rochester and the conference in defensive saves with five as Lesley Leatherman also has made three defensive saves. Helen Schmitter and Kara Houston have split time in goal for the Yellowjackets as Schmitter has started 13 games in goal while posting a 1.77 goals against average in addition to making 37 saves and holds a record of 9-3. Houston has made six starts in net as she holds a 0.62 GAA and has also made 37 saves while posting a record of 6-1.

REGULAR SEASON MEETING: Llamas scored the game-winning goal in stroke-offs as Vassar earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory in a shootout over Rochester at home on October 14. The loss by Rochester was the lone one of the season in Liberty League play. 

Following a penalty corner from UR's Mara Heppard with two minutes to go in the third quarter, Zoe Conomikes buried one in the back of the net off a deflection off a Vassar defender. Vassar responded just a minute later when Trunfio knocked one past the Yellowjackets goalkeeper following a feed from Brigger.

Trunfio was the first to shoot for Vassar and was turned away by Houston and Mercer scored on the first attempt for the Yellowjackets. Brigger was the second to shoot for the Brewers and tied it up at one after slipping one past the Rochester goalkeeper. 

Following a missed attempt from Rochester's Leatherman, Neikirk scored on her attempt and gave Vassar a 2-1 lead in the shootout. Fogarty tied the stroke-off at two apiece for Rochester before Llamas scored the eventual game-winner to give the Brewers a 3-2 edge.

Bridger and Sidorski were both turned away by Dumaresq in the final two attempts for Rochester as Vassar earned the shootout victory.

HOW TO FOLLOW: Friday's Liberty League First Round matchup will be streamed LIVE ($$) by Rochester and the contest will have Live Stats available.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD: The other Semifinal matchup features the third-seeded William Smith Herons and the second-seeded Ithaca Bombers who will face-off on Friday night at 4:00 p.m. The two winners of the semifinal contests will square off in the championship match on Sunday at the highest seed remaining.