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TROY, N.Y. - Junior Sam Plante had a goal and an assist and the No. 16 Vassar College field hockey team defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 4-0, in a Liberty League contest at Harkness Field. The Brewers improve to 7-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference, while the Engineers drop to 0-7 and 0-1.

Rensselaer nearly broke the ice on a sweeping shot by Taylor Clink, but the senior was stopped by Vassar goalkeeper Liz Rotolo.

Vassar got the initial goal in the waning moments of the first half when Cristina Lopez fed Sophie McGrath, whose shot from near the top of the circle was partially stopped but still found the back of the cage. That goal came at 34:59 on the 12th shot of the half for the Brewers, who had a 3-1 edge in penalty corners in the first 35:00. RPI goalkeeper Rachel Kaufman had six first half saves, while Rotolo stopped the one shot.

The Brewers doubled their advantage nine minutes into the second half when Niki Rizzo took a pass from Plante, turned, shot and scored her first of the season. Dara Studnitzer made it 3-0 just after a penalty corner when she stuffed in a loose ball 12:20 later. Plante then finished a feed from Megan Caveny, who had carried the ball down the right side before passing it to the front of the goal, at 62:04. It was the second goal of the season for Plante. 

Rotolo made four saves to improve to 7-1, including five consecutive victories. Vassar had 26 shots (26-7) and 13 penalty corners (13-3). 

Kaufman finished with 11 saves for the Engineers, who were shut out for the first time in four games.

RPI concludes its four-game homestand when it hosts league foe St. Lawrence University next Saturday at 11am. Vassar returns to action on Wednesday at 4pm when it hosts Hartwick College.