Women's Soccer | 10/13/2012 4:43:00 PM

Box Score

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's soccer team (9-5-0, 5-3-0 Liberty League) defeated Vassar (8-6-0, 3-4-0 Liberty League), 1-0 on Saturday afternoon at Tiger Stadium. With the victory, RIT clinched a spot in the Liberty League conference tournament and surpassed its season win total from a year ago. 
 
The game was scoreless for the first 40:59 before Jaimie Lewandowski (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia) scored the game's lone goal. Shelby Vakiener (Fairport, NY/Fairport) sent a crossing pass through the box that Vassar goalkeeper Ali Higgins dove to corral. However, the ball slipped from her hands and Lewandowski found herself alone in front of the net and scored her third goal of the season. Amanda Murray (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) made five first half saves as the Brewers took 12 shots to the Tigers' nine. Higgins made three stops in the half.
 
Quincey Ornellas (Moorpark, CA/Moorpark) just missed capitalizing on back-to-back scoring opportunities midway through the second half. Teammate Ashlene Potter (Rotterdam, NY/Schalmont) dove and deflected a loose ball with a perfectly placed header to Ornellas in front of the goal. The shot beat Higgins but hit the post and the Brewers' defense cleared the ball. Four minutes later, Ornellas took a ball from Lewandowski on the right flank and sailed a shot just wide of the net.
 
Vassar battled down the stretch and tried to even the score but the Tigers defense was formidable. The Brewers only put one shot on goal in the second half but Murray made the save.
 
Murray improved to 8-5 on the season and made six saves. Higgins played strong, stopping four shots for the Brewers.
 
RIT is currently tied for second place in the Liberty League standings with RPI, both having 15 points. The top four teams advance to the conference tournament. William Smith leads the Liberty League with 18 points as the regular season winds down.
 
The Tigers return to action on Saturday, Oct. 20 when they travel to St. Lawrence for a 1 p.m. contest. That game will mark the last conference game of the year for RIT, and a win would give the Tigers six in Liberty League play, one higher than their total in 2012.