POUGHKEEPSIE, NY  – The Union College men's soccer team saw their 2014 playoff hopes diminished on Wednesday afternoon as Vassar defeated the Dutchmen 1-0 to eliminate Union from playoff contention. 

Brewer freshman Alex Gonzales scored the only goal of the contest in the 49th minute. The Dutchmen attempted a late comeback bid in the game's final minutes but were unable to convert as Vassar picked up the 1-0 win to drop Union to 8-9-1 overall and 2-5 in the league. 

Tied 0-0 heading into the second half, Gonzales quickly broke the deadlock in the final period of play after a series of passes created an open shot in the box. Consecutive one touch passes in the middle of the box from junior Cosmo Veneziale and freshman Reid Smith found Gonzales free on the left side, and he powered a shot past senior Ryan Carter who was out-of-position to put the Brewers ahead 1-0. Carter made five saves in the contest.        

The teams exchanged shots over the course of the next several minutes, but it wasn't until the final moments of the game that things got interesting. After a ball got loose in the box in the 85th minute, freshman Ethan Strauss put an attempt towards the empty portion of the goal, but it was deflected wide left out of bounds.

On the ensuing corner kick, senior Kevin Janson found himself with an open shot just outside the 18 after the ball was cleared out. His attempt carried all the way into the box, and ricocheted off the right post out of danger to retain the 1-0 Brewer advantage. Less than a minute later, a header shot from junior Jeff Cohen was well placed towards goal, but junior goalkeeper Adam Wanrer was there to make the save and preserve his seventh shutout of the season.

Union will play at Skidmore in the season finale on Saturday afternoon with the kickoff scheduled for 3:00 pm.