NCAA TOURNAMENT: Field Hockey Edges Vassar In First Round Matchup, 2-1

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — The Endicott field hockey team fended off Vassar, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament on Wednesday evening at Weinberg Field.

Jenna Seibold (Reading, Mass.) found the back of the cage early for Endicott (7:19) to help the Gulls fly out to an early 1-0 lead. 

Following a defensive standstill between both schools for the next two periods, Meaghan Hogan (Chesire, Conn.) finally broke the drought with her 10th goal of the year at the 52:22 mark to push Endicott ahead by a 2-0 score despite being down one student-athlete due to a yellow card.

The Brewers did not go away quietly, however, as Gianna Trunfio (Clinton, N.Y.) tipped in a shot at 58:57 cutting the deficit in half with a few minutes left to play.

From there, Endicott held off the Brewers' comeback bid behind a stellar defensive performance on all fronts to lock up the win.

Meanwhile, in cage for the Gulls, Taylor Farrin (Danvers, Mass.) shut the door on seven Vassar opportunities pushing her save total to 110 on the year (12-6 overall record).

Farrin also made a crucial save on a penalty stroke right before the end of the third period (41:48) to keep the game at 1-0, at the time.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• First-ever NCAA Tournament road win in program history.
• The Gulls are 1-0 in the all-time series against the Brewers. 
• Endicott is 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in its last three tries.
• Seibold now ranks third on the team in goals with 11 total.
• Hogan and Seibold have scored in two of the Gulls' three postseason games this year. 
• Blake Braman (Clinton, Conn.) notched her team-leading seventh assist on Hogan's tally.

WHAT'S NEXT 

Endicott (14-6) will travel to No. 1 nationally ranked and three-time defending NCAA Division III champion Middlebury on Saturday, November 13 for a second round matchup at 11 AM. Vassar sees its season end at 13-7 overall. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)