POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Union College used a balanced effort over four quarters to hold off Vassar College, 18-12 in Liberty League women's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon on Weinberg Turf Field. The Dutchwomen move to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in league play, while the Brewers are now 3-9 with a 1-6 mark in the Liberty League. Today's contest marked Senior Day as well and the final regular season home game for Vassar's three members of the Class of 2022, including defender Maya Barrett-Tzannes, Ashley Roberts and Jackie Molloy - all of whom were honored in a pre-game ceremony.

Union got things going quickly as senior attack Grace Heiting scored at 13:06, but the Brewers battled back, tying things at 1-all as senior captain Ashley Roberts fed a pass to junior midfielder Maddy Kretten for the equalizer at 12:38. Rookie midfielder Kali Ringler scored a minute later to push VC into the lead and junior attack Annie Uyeki made it a 3-1 margin for the home team at 10:52 of the opening quarter.

Despite that momentum for the Brewers, it was the Dutchwomen who battled back as junior middie Drew Charlton scored with 6:25 to play, followed by a score from classmate Dana Truini to tie it up at 3-3. Heiting recorded her second of the contest with 2:10 remaining in the quarter, giving Union the 4-3 lead after the opening 15 minutes.

Union saw Charlton open the second quarter with a score, but once again the Brewers battled back as Uyeki scored, followed less than a minute later by a Roberts tally to tie things back up at 5-5 with 13:00 remaining. Heiting scored, but junior attack Kateri Sanseviro countered to keep things locked at 6-all at 10:23.

Another Heiting goal soon followed but back-to-back tallied from Kretten saw Vassar once again pull ahead, 8-7, with 3:26 left in the frame. Following a Truini goal, Roberts added another tally, but two straight goals in the final 1:08 of the frame by Charlton gave Union the 10-9 edge into halftime.

The third quarter opened with a blitz of Union goals as four tallies, including two from sophomore attack Anna Smith, made it a 14-9 margin with 6:32 left in the stanza. Vassar sophomore attack Yael Gelman was able to bury a feed from Kretten in front to close the gap before the end of the third.

Down 15-10, the Brewers got another goal from Roberts, off a feed from Kretten, but the Dutchwomen scored three straight to seal the margin. Vassar got one last tally with 58 seconds to play on a free position marker by rookie midfielder Zola Sullivan.

Union was led by Heiting, who notched four goals with two assists. She added four ground balls, with four caused turnovers and nine draw controls. Truini posted three goals with two assists, while Charlton had four goals with a ground ball, two caused turnovers and three draw controls. In goal, senior Jenna Paszek earned the win, recording two saves in 30 minutes of play. She was relieved in the final two quarters by sophomore Hannah Dubinsky, who recorded five saves.

For Vassar, Kretten notched three goals with two assists, adding a ground ball and five draw controls. Roberts had three goals with a helper, adding a ground ball and a draw control, while Uyeki had two tallies and an assists, posting three ground balls and a caused turnover. Junior midfielder Trina Chou had five draw controls as well, while sophomore defender Riley Kelly posted two caused turnovers. In goal, senior Jackie Molloy took the loss, making nine saves.

Union owned a 35-22 advantage in shots (27-19 on goal), while posting a 22-18 margin in ground balls. It was an even 17-17 margin in draw controls.

Vassar returns to action on Wednesday in a 6pm Liberty League tilt at Bard College. Union is back on the field on Tuesday with a 6pm non-league game at Trinity College.