The women's soccer team has advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Championships after earning a shootout victory over Union College.
Rochester and Union battled through 90 minutes and two 10-minute overtimes of 0-0 play before going to the tiebreaking procedure. Rochester made four penalty kicks and Union made two.
The Yellowjackets will play SUNY Oneonta on Saturday, November 19, in the Sweet 16. The match will kick off at 11 am at Oneonta's on-campus field. The second game of the doubleheader pitts Tufts against Wheaton (MA) College at 1:30 pm. Winners from Saturday advance to the regional final on Sunday. The Sunday champion moves on to the Final Four in Greensboro, NC over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Senior goalkeeper Adrianne Hulchanski posted her second consecutive complete-game shutout. She made four saves through regulation and overtime, then stopped one of the four PKs in the tiebreaker. Hulchanski has played 830 minutes this season without conceding a goal.
Union played its way into the tournament and host for the opening rounds by winning the Liberty League championship (with a victory over William Smith in Geneva). In the opening round Saturday, the Dutchwomen edged Ithaca in overtime. Rochester defeated the fifth-ranked Herons, 1-0, thanks to strong defense and a goal midway through the second half by Emily Urbanczyk.
This was the second time Rochester and Union dueled this year. On September 17, the teams tied 0-0 through double OT. It was Hulchanski's first appearance. She played the opening 45 minutes and sophomore Molly Leitch played the second 45 plus the OT. The two shared playing time for 14 straight games and they recorded 12 shutouts.
Hulchanski went the distance on Saturday vs. the Herons and repeated the feat against Union. Her first strong challenge Sunday came with just over 15 minutes left in the first half. Union's Erika Eisenhut eluded a pair of Yellowjacket defenders but could not square to the ball and shot it right at Hulchanski.
Stefanie Croman got through midway through the second half, but as she tried to settle Ashley Brown's cross from the right, it deflected right to Hulchanski.
Rochester's two biggest saves came in the second overtime. Two minutes in, Cassandra Mariani squeezed off a shot in a scramble but Hulchanski went down to block it. With 1:31 left in OT, Marissa VanWoeart headed a corner kick towards the right side, but the Yellowjacket defense cleared it off the line.
The Yellowjackets had good chances as well. Just 3:06 into the match, Urbanczyk fired right at Julie Gawronski. Stefanie Klenotich headed a corner kick just wide of the back post midway through the period.
Rochester nearly broke through early and late in the second half - both times with Urbanczyk as the catalyst. Two minutes in, she laid a short pass onto the foot of Mary Walsh who fired point-blank at Gawronski. With two seconds left in regulation, Urbanczyk's shot from the middle sailed over the bar.
When overtime failed to produce a survivor, the game went to the shootout. Rochester went first. Ashley VanVechten scored to the right corner. Brown was first for Union, scoring to the left corner. Walsh scored to the left side. Chelsea Hargis shot for the center of the net, but Hulchanski was there to save it. Anne McMahon put Rochester ahead, 3-1, in the shootout, driving the ball to the left corner.
Eisenhut kept the Dutchwomen within striking distance, scoring to the right corner and pulling Union within 3-2. Kristen Leskow scored to the left corner for a 4-2 lead. Sara Wilson was Union's fourth shooter. She put it over the bar, ending the tiebreaking session.
With the victory, Rochester is 16-1-3. Union is 18-1-3.
