Sean Hantes and Scott Cady scored goals on each side of halftime as the University of Rochester, ranked fifth in Division III, defeated 22nd-ranked Hobart College, 2-0, in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Edwin Fauver Stadium.

The Yellowjackets improved to 15-2-2 and moved into the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA playoffs. Hobart finished its season at 12-4-3.

Hantes broke a 0-0 tie at 39:27 after sustained Rochester pressure late in the half. The ball was driven into the box and headed on net. Hobart goalkeeper Pete VanDellon came off the line to grab it and got caught in a crowd. Hantes managed to head it into the net from four yards out.

“Getting the goal just before halftime was huge for us,” said Rochester head coach Chris Apple. “If you go into halftime at 0-0, (Hobart) feels like they have new life. If you keep coming up empty (in goalscoring situations), that can wear on a team.”

It quickly became 2-0 in the second half. Patrick Ripp chased a ball down the right sideline and swung it into the box where Cady headed it inside the left post at 51:28. “Cady made a great run to get to the cross,” Apple remarked.

The two-goal deficit changed the lineup for Hobart. “We had to go to a 3-4-3,” said head coach Shawn Griffin, “and had to play more direct. That's not our style.”

Hobart pressed forward and had a handful of good chances to get on the scoreboard. Twenty minutes into the second half, Philipp Schoeniger hit a hard, low liner from 25 yards that Rochester goalkeeper Michael Peacock saved low.

Peacock finished with six saves – two of his biggest coming in the final 13 minutes. Tyler Webster slammed a free kick from 35 yards out on right wing that Peacock dove full stretch to scramble over the end line for a corner kick. With less than four minutes left, Schoeniger hit a point-blank blast from just to the right of center after the defense failed to clear a cross from right wing. Peacock parried it. The rebound came out to Alex Graf and his shot sailed over the crossbar.

“They put a lot of pressure on us,” said Rochester senior back Nick Mikolenko. “They pushed a lot of guys forward.”

Apple was wary of Hobart's speed. “They counter (attack) so fast,” he said. “I thought we did a good job on their 1 v. 1 players like (Dan) Riso and (Justin) Dotzman. We recovered behind the ball.”

Keeping Riso off-balance was something Griffin noticed as well. “It was hard to get Riso the ball,” he said. When the forward did get it and beat his marker, another defender was there. “Rochester's players are strong and athletic. They did a good job of covering for each other.”

The Yellowjackets move into the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Division III tournament against three-time defending national champion Messiah College. A site for the Sweet 16 will be announced by the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Committee at a later point.