With only four games left in their season, the Clarkson University Men's Soccer team beat Vassar 2-1 on Hantz Turf Field in one of their strongest performances this year.

Clarkson improves their record to 7-7-1 with a 2-3-1 record in conference while Vassar is now 9-4-1 and 3-1-0 in the Liberty League.

Both teams came into the Friday night game needing a result in order to strengthen their playoff chances and it showed as the intensity was high throughout the first half. It would be the Golden Knights who struck first. In the 14th minute, Zachary Godin (Philadelphia, N.Y.) played a corner kick to the back post where Trevor Blackwell (Pittsford, N.Y.) was waiting to head it into the net for his third goal of the year.

Vassar began to build pressure on the Clarkson defense and in the 31st minute, they would break through. Gavin Jennings hit a corner kick into the middle of the box and Nick Hess rose up to meet it and powered his header past Clarkson keeper Michael King (Verona, N.J.). It appeared Hess' goal would ensure the teams would head into the break tied, but just three minutes before the end of the half, Maximillian Leetz (Breudx, Germany) chipped a ball over the Vassar defense and Eric Herberger (East Aurora, N.Y.) volleyed it past the diving Brewers keeper to reclaim the lead.

The second half would be one with plenty of controversy as the two teams battled. About 20 minutes into the half, Leetz dribbled into the Vassar box and as he pushed the ball past a defender, there appeared to be contact which caused Leetz to trip. However, the referee waived away Clarkson's penalty claims and continued play. The referee made another important decision in the 79th minute when he judged that a tackle Vassar's Jennings was dangerous enough to warrant a red card, forcing the Brewers to play the final 11 minutes with only 10 players. The Golden Knights were able to limit the scoring chances of Vassar over that time and when the final whistle blew, they walked off with a 2-1 win.

Clarkson will host Bard College tomorrow at 2:00 pm in the final home game of the year, while Vassar travels to St. Lawrence for a 2:00 pm game.