Poughkeepsie, NY – The Vassar College Women's Lacrosse team closed out the 2026 season with a 17-13 home win over visiting Clarkson on Saturday. The Brewers, who rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit, saw six players record at least three points led by six from
Elizabeth Burgess (Columbus, OH). Senior
Maddie Busam (Summit, NJ) earned the win in goal with five saves.
Saturday's victory closes Vassar's season at 7-8 overall and 2-8 in Liberty League play with the Golden Knights finishing the regular season at 10-7 overall and 4-6 in league competition.
How It Happened
- Vassar opened an early 2-0 lead following goals from Burgess and Emilia DiLiberto (Allison Park, PA) just 5:04 into the contest.
- Burgess' second of the game at the 7:55 mark pushed the advantage back to two-goals at 3-1.
- Following the Burgess marker, Clarkson scored the final two goals of the first period and opened the second frame with goals from Mckenna Cassin and Lauren McCorry to pull in front 5-3 with 12:25 left before halftime.
- Vassar put together a 3-1 scoring run, getting tallies from DiLiberto, Karina Gyllenhaal (Beverley, MA) and Tess Billings (Deerfield, IL) to knot the score at 6-6 with 2:37 left in the first half.
- Clarkson responded with two goals in the final 1:39 of the second quarter to enter the intermission with an 8-6 advantage.
- First half shots on Saturday were even at 14-14 with the visitors holding a 9-6 edge in first half draw controls.
- Coming out of halftime, Vassar ripped off four straight goals to grab the lead for good in the game.
- Siena Wong (Scotts Valley, CA) scored 51 seconds into the third quarter to start the surge with Sigirid Fredlund (Seattle, WA) knotting the score at 8-8 just 32 seconds later.
- Back-to-back player-up goals from Logan Skuro (Chappaqua, NY) and Wong pushed Vassar in front 10-8 with 7:12 left in the period.
- The Golden Knights pulled to within a goal twice late in the third quarter, but a Fredlund tally with eight seconds left in the frame sent Vassar to the final 15 minutes with a 12-10 advantage.
- The Brewers started the fourth quarter off with the first two goals and three of the first four tallies to open a 15-11 lead.
- Billings scored consecutive goals to start the frame and a DiLiberto player-up goal with 8:56 remaining gave Vassar a four-goal cushion.
- Clarkson would not be able to get closer than three goals following the DiLiberto tally and goals from Billings and Gyllenhaal just under two minutes apart late in the final frame gave Vassar a game-high five goal advantage at 17-12.
- Vassar outshot Clarkson 19-12 after halftime and won the draw control battle 11-6.
For The Brewers
- Burgess led the scoring attack with six points after totaling two goals and four helpers, finishing with a team-high 21 assists. Burgess closed out a strong season finale with two caused turnovers and a pair of groundballs.
- Billings finished the day with four points on the strength of four goals and an assist while adding four draw controls, three groundballs and two caused turnovers. Billings rounds out the season with 45 goals, tying for the ninth highest single season mark in program history.
- Gyllenhaal produced five points for the second straight game, registering two goals and three helpers. Gyllenhaal closes the year with 20 helpers, good for second on the team.
- DiLiberto totaled four points in the win and led all players with 11 draw controls, reaching double-figures in draws for the second time this season. DiLiberto also chipped in a caused turnover and four groundballs.
- Wong and Fredlund each posted three points with Wong recording a hat trick and Fredlund posting two goals and an assist.
- Billings, Burgess and Megan Sweeney (Tampa, FL) led the team with two caused turnovers apiece with Sweeney adding three groundballs.
- Busam earned the win in goal with five stops on Saturday, finishing the year with 108 saves. Busam added a caused turnovers and a pair of groundballs to Saturday's winning effort.
For The Golden Knights
- Cassin led all players with six goals, adding two draws, two caused turnovers and three groundballs.
- Sydney Nakas assisted on five goals and scooped two groundballs.
- Annie DuFault posted a hat trick and McCorry scored twice for Clarkson.
- Gabby Cranfield assisted on three goals.
- Kayla Zehr won four draw controls.
- Riley Donovan suffered the loss in goal with seven saves in 476:16 worth of action.
Game Statistics
- Vassar finished the win with a 33-26 advantage in shots.
- Vassar held a slim 17-15 edge in draw controls.
- The Brewers won the groundball battle, 20-15.
- Vassar closed the day 12-for-17 in clears.
- Clarkson was 15-for-18 in clearing chances.
- The Brewers were a perfect 2-for-2 on free-position shots.
