POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The fifth-seeded Union College field hockey team had its late-game comeback finish just short as fourth-seeded Vassar College dealt the Garnet Chargers a 2-1 defeat in the first round of the 2023 Liberty League Tournament, held on Tuesday night at Vassar's Weinberg Turf Field.
With the win, Vassar (11-6) advances to the Liberty League Tournament semifinals, where the Brewers will take on top-seeded and #25 Ithaca College on Friday. Union (11-8) has its 2023 season come to a close with the loss.
The Garnet Chargers were outshot by a 17-5 margin on the evening, but got within a goal thanks to sophomore
Megan Dorsey's 10th goal of the season off a penalty corner feed from first-year
Maddie Greco with 3:51 remaining. The visitors earned another penalty corner with under two minutes remaining, but Dorsey's attempt from the top of the arc was blocked.
The first period did not feature many offensive chances for either side, but the Brewers capitalized on their best chance of the frame when Sydney Kovel scored with 1:45 on the clock to give the home team the first goal of the game. Vassar took the only three shots of the opening period.
Sophomore
Sophie Brady made a pair of nice saves off penalty corner attempts to keep it a 1-0 game early in the second stanza, and sophomore
Alyssa Pavano had a good chance in front of the Vassar net that was denied by Sarah Dumaresq soon after. The Garnet Chargers added more pressure later in the frame, earning a pair of penalty corners, but could not convert and headed into halftime still down by a goal. The Brewers held a 7-2 edge in shots after 30 minutes of play.
Brady made four more saves in the third period to keep the visitors in the contest, but Vassar managed to convert on their sixth corner of the game with 2:30 left when Kelsey O'Connell tipped home a shot from the top of the arc to double the Brewer lead headed to the fourth.
The sophomore goalie made one more save in the final frame, finishing the evening with seven stops. Dumaresq stopped two shots for Vassar.
The loss brings to a close another excellent season for the Garnet Chargers, who reached the 11-win mark for the second consecutive season and earned the program's first postseason berth in 13 years. The team is slated to return five of its top-six scorers as it looks to continue its momentum going forward into 2024.
