Emily Urbanczyk headed in a corner kick from Laura Bojko with 6:19 to play to give the University of Rochester a 1-0 victory over SUNY Oneonta in the NCAA Division III women's soccer championships at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Rochester moves into the Sweet 16 against Messiah College, the defending Division III national champion. A site and time for the Sweet 16 will be announced by the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Committee.
The Yellowjackets improved to 16-1-3 overall. Rochester is ranked seventh in the current Division III Coaches' Poll. Oneonta finished the season at 18-3-1. The Red Dragons are ranked 20th nationally.
Rochester won a corner out of the left side with less than 6:30 left. Bojko played it to the near post and Urbanczyk, four yards off the line, redirected it under the crossbar, just over the leap of Oneonta goalkeeper Jeannine Marra.
“We practice running that near post a lot,” Urbanczyk said. “It came to me and I redirected it.”
Urbanczyk's goal capped 20 minutes of steady pressure by Rochester on a young Oneonta defense. The Yellowjackets pushed forward constantly and had a handful of chances before Urbanczyk struck.
Midway through the period, a lead pass found Mary Walsh running left to right in the penalty area. Walsh got wide of a defender, stretched the defense, and crossed the ball back into the middle but Ashley Weagraff mis-hit it and squibbed it over the endline.
Four minutes later, the Yellowjackets were back at it with Anne McMahon hitting a 25-yarder from left wing that Marra had to parry over the bar for a corner kick.
McMahon's goal produced the last of three great saves from Marra – she stopped Walsh and Laura Morrison in the first half. Her real value came in marking Oneonta's Mary Velan, the All-America forward who scored two goals Saturday to put Oneonta into today's match.
“Annie did a great job marking Velan,” said Rochester defender Stephanie Klenotich. “All week at practice, we talked about being intelligent in recovery. Get support from each other at the back and keep talking.”
Velan freed herself once – and it nearly gave the Red Dragons a first half lead. She shook loose from McMahon and found some passing space to lead Sarah Begley down the left wing. As Begley turned towards goal, Rochester goalkeeper Molly Leitch came out to challenge. Begley pushed the ball past Leitch towards the open goalmouth but Klenotich rushed back to clear it for a corner kick. Callie Jo Sheldon's corner kick was headed into the net but the goal was disallowed for a foul vs. Leitch.
In the first 45 minutes, Rochester had a handful of chances and Oneonta had some possession, but few opportunities to run a counterattack. At halftime, Oneonta coach Traci Ranieri made a tactical switch, bringing on Kailee DiDomenico in place of Corinne Tisei in midfield.
“This game is about taking risks and taking chances,” Ranieri says. “The game was so physical, Rochester dominated winning balls. I wanted a technical player in there. We couldn't get the ball to Mary; we couldn't win that ball in the air.”
“We knew Oneonta played a 4-3-3 with a triangle in the middle,” said Rochester coach Terry Gurnett. “We brought in McMahon to bird-dog Velan and looked to find Bojko on the release (after gaining possession). We felt with our speed up front, we could counter them.
“Oneonta is such a dangerous team, I wanted to play as much of the game in their backfield as possible.”
Gurnett substituted liberally, using Eileen Boylan, Tammy Brewster, and Angela Heaney up front to give Urbanczyk, Walsh, and Ashley Weagraff a break. Boylan nearly broke the deadlock with less than 12 minutes to play. The ball came to her near the penalty spot and her first-timer was right at Marra.
Youth in the Oneonta defense had something to do with that. “I think we got rattled,” Ranieri said. “I've got five in the back that are first year players. The good news about that is that they've played their first NCAA games.”
The goal was Urbanczyk's team-high eighth of the season and each has been a gamewinner. “There is a lot of chemistry with me and Mary up top,” Urbvanczyk says. “We don't have one person with 20 goals as a red flag to the defense that says 'mark me'. We work hard and have a great team to support us.”
“Rochester plays a very direct style,” Ranieri praised. “We haven't seen a team do that to us all year long. My hat is off to Rochester.”
One of Oneonta's 18 wins this year was a 2-1 overtime win at Messiah. It pushed the Red Dragons near the top of the coaches' and media polls. Messiah awaits the Yellowjackets. “It's going to be two totally different styles,” Ranieri said. “It's a game I want to see. It's going to be great.”
