Vassar will take on Rutgers in the Tri-State Women’s DII college conference final next week after each won their respective semifinals Saturday.

Vassar defeated Hofstra 27-17 in a game where Hofstra were able to spoil Vassar possession well and tested the Brewers’ midfield defense with their hard-running centers.

“We didn’t tackle particularly well, but some of those Hofstra players were very tough to stop,” said Vassar Head Coach Tony Brown.

Vassar had the upper hand in the scrums, and in fact No. 8 Meg Slattery scored on an eight man push, a rarity in today’s game.

“We did a much better job of being clinical in their 22,” added Brown. “In previous games we’d get white-line fever. But we talked about it and practiced some stuff this week. When it counted, when we were down there we punched it in.”

Rutgers, meanwhile, shut out Marist 48-0 to make the final. Marist had the ball in the Rutgers half for the first 20 minutes, but were unable to break the Rutgers D.

“Our defense is really, really good,” said Rutgers Head Coach Ken Paper. “We make tackles and are patient, and we win rugby games by playing good defense.”

Miranda Previte, Kristen Siano, and Kathryn Hussey led the Rutgers effort, and their wings finished off scoring opportunities. Erin Arroyo continued her torrid scoring pace, and has close to 20 tries this season.

“We have had a lot of contributors,” said Pape. “And we’ll need more next week. To beat Vassar we’re going to have to be a lot stronger in the pack. Last time we played them they dominated in the scrums. We just have to improve there.”