POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 24, 2005) Union College overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit with two second half goals to defeat Vassar College, 2-1 in Liberty League men's soccer action Saturday afternoon at Prentiss Field.

Both teams were playing their second straight Liberty League game to start league play. The loss drops the host Brewers to 2-4-1 and 0-2, while Union improves to 8-1, 2-0.

In a game complete with end-to-end action and physical play a total of 41 fouls were called -- Union scored both of its goals in the second half after Vassar had taken a 1-0 halftime lead on a goal scored with 11 seconds until intermission. The Dutchmen's first goal came at 55:14 from sophomore forward Casey Ftorek (Bedford, MA/Taft School) off an assist from sophomore forward Chris Poey (Amherst, MA/Amherst Regional). The game winner was an unassisted goal by junior midfielder Luke LaBella (Middletown, CT/Taft School).

Vassar got on the board in dramatic fashion, with 11 seconds to play in the first half when senior defenseman Dave Vernon (Potomac, MD/Georgetown Day) scored on a beautiful header goal to the far post off an in-swinging corner kick by junior midfielder Francesco Galetto (Washington, DC/Walter Johnson). Vernon made his run towards the ball in the middle of the box and flicked it past Union freshman goalie Rob Kramer (Westport, CT/Staples).

Union tied the contest at 55:14 when Ftorek connected on a header from Poey. The Dutchmen broke the 1-1 tie at 67:41 off a free kick into the Vassar box. The ball deflected off a VC defender towards the net. Vassar freshman goalie Jason Cetel (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) saved it off the cross bar, but a waiting LaBella headed the rebound into the net.

The second half, a battle of defense more than offensive play, was in stark contest to an opening 45 minutes in which both teams had several scoring opportunities that resulted in near misses. At 38:40, Vassar's junior midfielder Court Steiner (Tarzana, CA/Chaminade Prep) drilled a shot off a direct kick that went high and slightly wide of the Union goal. Five minutes later, senior forward Nate Malinowski (Livonia, NY/Livonia) fed freshman defenseman Matthew Belli (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) along the right wing who played a perfect cross to junior forward Adam Marsh (Bloomfield, MI/Cranbrook-Kingswood) whose shot sailed just over Kramer's head.

Union had its first chance of the opening 45 minutes at the midway point when Poey fed LaBella who pushed his shot just left of the goal. With 13:50 until halftime, Ftorek had an open shot on Cetel that was blocked brilliantly by VC junior defenseman Gray Schweitzer (Buffalo, NY/Nichols School). With 8:53 remaining until halftime, sophomore defenseman Andrew Jacobson (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) spilt the field and shuffled a nifty pass to senior midfielder Wade Cheatham (Edwards, CO/Vail Mountain School), who pushed his shot just wide of the Vassar goal.

For the game, Vassar had 13 shots, with Kramer making one save. Union fired off 11 shots with Cetel making a single save. Vassar had five corner kicks to Union's four and 19 fouls to Union's 21.

Union returns home to host Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.