St. Lawrence University senior co-captain Lanni Piroli had a game-high six points (3g,3a) while junior Brigid Hurley added a game-high five goals, as the Saints women's lacrosse team defeated Vassar College by the score of 20-8 in Canton, NY on Friday afternoon.

The victory moves St. Lawrence to 5-3 in Liberty League play and 8-6 overall, while the Brewers fall to 5-9 (2-6) on the season. Despite the solid effort by the Scarlet and Brown, the team will still need a win tomorrow against Bard and an RIT loss to Union in order to qualify for the 2012 Liberty League Tournament.

"I was proud of the way we responded after two tough losses last weekend," said St. Lawrence head coach Jodi Canfield. "We knew this was a must-win game for us and we played like it from the opening draw control. We need to take care of our business tomorrow and see if that will be enough for us to get a post-season berth."

St. Lawrence finished with the advantage in shots (34-13), ground balls (20-14) and draw controls (21-9). Sophomore Carly VanTassel also finished with five points on two goals and three assists, while Stephanie O'Rourke and Holly Noyes each had multi-goal outings.

Vassar was led offensively by Sophia Rosetti who had a team-high three goals while Emma Carter added two.

The Saints came out of the gate sharp, scoring the opening three goals in the first 4:38 before Vassar's Zoe Ripecky made it 3-1. However, each time Vassar would score, the home team would answer, as they built a 6-3 lead with 17:10 to play in the first half.

St. Lawrence would pull away from the Brewers in the latter stages of the first half, as it put together an impressive seven-goal run to take a 13-3 advantage into intermission. Hurley scored three times in the run, while VanTassel, Piroli, O'Rourke and rookie Mackenzie Collins also chipped in to push the cushion to 10.

Though Rosetti scored the first goal of the second half for Vassar to make it 13-4, St. Lawrence rattled off four goals in a span of 4:39 to take a 17-4 lead and put the game away. O'Rourke and Hurley scored, followed by a tally from Kate Higgins and another from co-captain Margie Bailey.

Carter would score consecutive goals for the Brewers, who had their scoring capped by Stephanie Stone and Malena Harrang. Piroli, Abigail Horan and VanTassel would also pick up goals in the final minutes, giving the Saints the 20-8 victory.

Noyes and Bailey each closed with a game-high five draw controls for the home team. Senior co-captain Paige Powell picked up the win in goal for St. Lawrence despite having to make only two saves. Kate Pula suffered the loss in net for Vassar after giving up 12 goals in the first half while making two stops. Heather Kesselman and Hilary McDonnell split time in the second half for the visitors.

St. Lawrence will celebrate its "Senior Day" tomorrow, Saturday, April 28 when the team faces Bard College at 3:00pm, while Vassar ends its conference season against Clarkson in Potsdam, NY.