Potsdam, NY – A six-goal third tied the game through 45 minutes and the Clarkson University Men's Lacrosse team never trailed again as the Golden Knights completed their come-from-behind effort with a 13-12 win over Vassar College in Liberty League action Saturday afternoon at Hantz Turf Field.

The Golden Knights clinched the final Liberty League playoff spot with the victory, improving to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in conference games. Vassar fell to 3-9 overall and 1-5 in league contests. Clarkson is on the road next Saturday when the team takes on Rensselaer.

It didn't appear as if the Knights would be celebrating a playoff spot after the first 20 minutes of Saturday's game. The Brewers led 6-1 at the 10:41 mark of the second quarter and still found themselves up by five when Michael Mullen tallied with 1:18 remaining in the half. However, Bryan Penney converted with just 30 seconds left in the quarter to give the Knights a little momentum, making the score 8-4.

Vassar's James Thomas scored a man-down goal at 11:57 in the third quarter, putting the Brewers up 9-6, but Conor Bartlett tallied at 8:18 and Billy Bergan scored at 6:53 to get the Knights within one. Marcus Lavarnway and Pierce Currie scored late in the quarter to tie the game 10-10, finishing off a six-goal third quarter for the Knights.

Bergan found Lavarnway at the start of the fourth and the Knights would never trail again. Vassar did tie the game at 9:45 on a score from Connor Deehan, but the knot was unraveled just eight seconds later when Derek Beatty won the faceoff, picked up the groundball and scored at the other end. Pierce Currie scored less than two minutes later to put Clarkson up two, but Logan Hyde would pull Vassar back within one at the 6:58 mark. Neither team would find pay dirt for the rest of the game. In the final two minutes of the game, Vassar had a shot blocked and two more saved by Clarkson goalkeeper Kevin Dyckman, including one in the waning seconds of the contest.

Vassar held advantages in shots (50-36), shots on goal (27-21) groundballs (36-29) and faceoffs (22-7).

Pierce Currie finished with four goals and also added five groundballs and Conor Bartlett notched four points with two goals and a pair of assists. Marcus Lavarnway also picked up three points with two goals and one helper. Derek Beatty matched Currie's output with five groundballs, and Liam St. Croix gained four groundballs. Thomas Stanton enjoyed one of his best days of the season with four caused turnovers and four groundballs. Kevin Dyckman also made 15 saves in the Clarkson crease for the Knights.

For Vassar, Matthew Lowery won 22 of his 29 chances on faceoffs, earning 13 groundballs overall. Michael Mullen scored a game-high six points with five goals and one assist and Logan Hyde added in five points thanks to three goals and two assists. Erik Mikelinich stopped eight shots for the Brewers.