Senior forward Mary Walsh set up one goal and scored another to lead the University of Rochester to a 2-0 victory over College Misericordia in the opening round of the NCAA Division III women's soccer playoffs at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Rochester, which is ranked seventh in the current Division III coaches' poll, will play 20th-ranked SUNY Oneonta in the second round on Sunday. The Red Dragons advanced with a 2-0 win over Rowan University. Rochester is 15-1-3 overall. Misericordia finished the season at 16-7.
Walsh set up Emily Urbanczyk for the game's first goal at 21:15, then scored herself at 51:39.
The ball came to Walsh in the center of the box. With her back to the goal, she pushed it out wide. It came to Urbanczyk who went around a defender and hit it into the top left corner of the goal.
Rochester had steady pressure up to that point, but the best early chances came to the Cougars. Misericordia was able to get the ball forward to Jessica Lasorsa and she created several dangerous chances.
Fourteen minutes into the match, she out-foxed a defender on right wing and crossed it through the goalmouth but none of her teammates were there to capitalize. Five minutes later, she came through on left wing and let fly with a blast that Rochester goalkeeper Molly Leitch had to turn against the crossbar for a corner kick.
Misericordia coach Mark Stauffer saw that as a turning point. “When we put that one off the bar, if that goes in, we can change tactics a little.”
Rochester coach Terry Gurnett knew Lasorsa was dangerous on the counter. “They found seams between the midfield and forwards to counter-attack,” he said. “The good news is that we did a fine job of recovering.”
The Yellowjackets adjusted their defense. “They stayed behind the ball,” Stauffer said. “We had to check back into space.”
With a 1-0 lead, Rochester was able to flex its offensive muscles a little. The Yellowjackets applied steady pressure in the second half. The period wasn't seven minutes old when Walsh struck. Laura Morrison chipped the ball from midfield. Walsh ran out from the box to collect it, turned on right wing and shot to the far left corner of the net. In the next six minutes, both Walsh and Urbanczyk shot high over the bar.
The Yellowjackets finished with 22 shots, 14 in the second half, and 12 corner kicks, nine in the second half. Misericordia had four shots and one corner kick – all in the first half.
It all went back to the opening goal and the lead Rochester took to the locker room. “It makes all the difference in the world when you score first,” Gurnett said. “If you press all the time and they counterattack (and score), that's a tremendous hole to come out of.”
